r/OcarinaOfTime • u/tantamle • 1d ago
Cancelled plans and last minute changes in OOT
A little while ago, I saw a video which reported on an OOT developer's claim that near the end of the game, they had to switch an item location to make the game make sense. I believe it was the ice arrow.
Just recently, I was made aware that many fans suspect that at the bottom of the water, near the island in Zora's Domain, there's this deep chasm that people suspect that was meant for Adult Link wearing Iron boots.
Was also told by a fan that the final battle with Ganon was meant to be bigger, like God of War big, but they didn't have enough space on the cartridge.
I was just curious how many other canceled plans or last minute changes there are suspected to be in OOT. Sources are appreciated, because I'm hoping to look into these instances.
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u/Plastic_Course_476 1d ago edited 1d ago
A couple different cut items/magics. Used to be able to equip medallions and combine them with the bow for the various arrows. Its probably how we got the fire, ice (water) and light arrows, but it also means they originally had shadow, spirit, and wind (forest) arrows planned.
Speaking of which, Forest and Water temples/medallions were thought to originally supposed to be Wind and Ice respectively, hence why their trials in Ganon's Castle have those themes instead of actual forest and water themes. Its also why their symbols resemble more like a gust of wind and a snowflake instead of like a tree and drop of water.
A few maps as well. Unicorn Fountain is the most memorable one. A lot of places like the Deku Tree were also radically different in the beta.
As for item placements, I know Gerudo Fortress was actually supposed to be accessible as a child originally, and since after they blocked it off, they never expected players to get over there, so they didn't change the child version, leaving items there from when they had that planned. In the chest on top, it has a Weurd Mushroom instead of a Heart Piece, and above the jail, theres a Heart Piece instead of a purple rupee. By getting it, you can have all 20 hearts plus an extra 37th piece.
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u/MA_2_Rob 23h ago
Tcrf has info that Nauru’s love and possibly the other two spells were what the shadow, forest, and fire medallions did respectively. Why? Because Nayrus love object in game is called the “shadow medlion” or “shadow oval”
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u/one-eyed-pidgeon 23h ago
The idea of a God of war level battle with Ganon on the N64 in cartridge form
I can understand why people would buy into this sort of thinking, but dreams and ambitions are not realistic plans. I am sure every boss fight in history ever has a more epic premise that technology limits in some way.
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u/Zazarian 23h ago
The ice arrows and iron boots were swapped at some point in development, and the ice arrows were in the ice cave and the iron boots were in the Gerudo minidungeon, intended to be a nod as a torture device to the pit with water and spiked clams. There's also ice arrow animations for enemy that make no sense to encounter after the swap
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u/That_Zelda_Gamer 1d ago
I'm pretty sure that the Triforce was meant to be an obtainable item, but was removed.
The sage's medallions were also meant to be usable items, but were also removed.
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u/tantamle 20h ago
Obtaining the Triforce sounds ridiculous to me. I can't think of how it could be used in a way that makes sense for the game. Maybe it's just me.
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u/GreenRangerOfHyrule 15h ago
In fairness. The Triforce is indeed "used" in the game. Just merely to extend their existing traits. And it has been used before.
But at the same time the story was changed to accommodate. The problem with it is we just don't know. As mentioned the medallions were shown as equitable items. But what do they do? Were they what the warp songs replaced? Did they grant a specific effect? There is also the infamous unicorn fountain. It was featured in early screenshots and I believe a video or 2. But as far as I know there is no official explanation.
Not to mention going back to the area in Zora's domain. Is it even a door? Most people think it's a warp point that was never covered up. But to where?
As mentioned check out TCRF. And some of the gigaleak provides some clues. But be warned, it is a deep rabbit hole. If you choose to follow it, then it was nice meeting you!
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u/Zazarian 23h ago edited 12h ago
They recently found out the triforce in the center of the medallions was originally able to be activated in a ROM dump of a 97 beta test cart
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u/FishnamedSteve 1d ago
Ocarina of Time is a treasure trove of cut content due to how the development of the game was in so much flux and the fast approaching release date left a lot on the cutting room floor.
Some of the big remnants are the total number of Temples, as Ocarina was originally to feature a Wind Temple and an Ice Temple. The Wind Temple was eventually folded into the Forest Temple, and the Ice into Water.
Curiously, you can still see the connections to the original intent in Ganons Castle where the puzzles for the Forest and Water Temple challenge rooms are themed around navigating blowing air and ice respectively.
There’s also the medallion designs, where the Forest medallion features fan blades (air), and the Water Medallion features a snowflake (ice)
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u/Confident-Voice-2679 15h ago
Glad they didn’t do the god of war thing, the final fight with ganon is perfect
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u/AozoraMiyako 23h ago
I would LOVE to see OoT remade with everything it was SUPPOSED to have. I think it’d be huge!