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[Bullet Club]

Zelda: Ocarina of Time PC port looks likely as fan decompilation ‘clears 60%’​

A similar reverse-engineered Super Mario 64 project resulted in a PC port last year

A Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time PC port is looking more and more likely, as a fan decompilation project clears 60% completion.

The community-driven Zelda Reverse Engineering Team (ZRET) has been working for more than a year to reverse engineer the N64 classic into parsable C code, similar to how fans were able to fully convert Super Mario 64 after a two-year effort.

This kind of reverse engineering is made legal because the fans involved do not use leaked source code for their work and instead painstakingly recreate the N64 game from scratch using modern coding languages.

The decompilation project also does not use any of Nintendo’s original copyrighted assets such as graphics or sound.

In Mario 64’s case, the decompilation efforts eventually resulted in a fully functioning PC port of the N64 game, which is able to scale to any screen resolution and be easily modded by the community with new graphics and modern effects such as ray-tracing.

The N64 game was also ported by fans to work on Nintendo 3DS and run at 60fps. Any potential Ocarina of Time port would presumably allow similar mods, including improved visuals like those seen in the Unreal Engine 4 fan project.

The Ocarina decompilation project looks on course to be finished later this year, based on the pace of progress displayed on its website. The community-based team is focusing on the GameCube Master Quest version of the game, since it features some debug commands to help with their work.

However, any potential PC port is not the focus of the ZRET’s work and would require many months of extra porting by an outside team.

Asked about a potential Zelda: Ocarina of Time PC port last year, project member ‘Rozlette’ told Ars Technica that any such version was “not as easy as just [saying] ‘compile it for Windows’.

“There is a lot of code that deals with talking to N64 hardware. The N64 render pipeline is very different than modern OpenGL, for example,” the person said, adding that the entire process would be “close but not quite” as complex as writing a full N64 emulator.

“It remains quite difficult, especially when considering changes that are considered implicit with a PC target, like being able to change the resolution or framerate,” another member added.

Outside of potential PC ports, the Zelda: Ocarina of Time decompilation project could have huge implications for hacks, as well as historical preservation and the discovery of new bugs which could be utilised by the speedrunning community.

Source: VGC

 

[supernova8]

This kind of reverse engineering is made legal because the fans involved do not use leaked source code for their work and instead painstakingly recreate the N64 game from scratch using modern coding languages.

The decompilation project also does not use any of Nintendo’s original copyrighted assets such as graphics or sound.

Wait what? Surely by calling it "Zelda" and copying the assets (even if not re-used) in terms of shape and in the spirit of the game, they are totally in breach of copyright if Nintendo decides to sue.
Besides, even if it were technically legal, Nintendo has more than enough money to start a legal battle that nobody can afford to prolong.

Nintendo takes action against Mario 64 PC port | VGC

Download links and YouTube videos targeted following fan-made port’s release…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Nintendo already started going after people hosting the Mario port so the same will happen with this.

 

[OnThePathToWisdom]

"fans were able to fully convert Super Mario 64 after a two-year effort."

Wasn't that because of the source code leak?

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Ocarina of Time with more than 15FPS? What sort of heresy is this?

 

[Majukun]

Wait what? Surely by calling it "Zelda" and copying the assets (even if not re-used) in terms of shape and in the spirit of the game, they are totally in breach of copyright if Nintendo decides to sue.
Besides, even if it were technically legal, Nintendo has more than enough money to start a legal battle that nobody can afford to prolong.

Nintendo takes action against Mario 64 PC port | VGC

Download links and YouTube videos targeted following fan-made port’s release…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Nintendo already started going after people hosting the Mario port so the same will happen with this.

probably depends from country to country since copyrights are different, but yeah even if they are not using the original code, characters themselves are under coopyright and enough of a reason for nintendo to go after it.
but same thing applies to any fan game really, so they probably were stricly talking code-wise.

 

[DGrayson]

I have been waiting for the right chance to do a complete playtrhough of Ocarina of Time. I tried the 3DS version but I couldnt get into it on the small screen.

If this can run at 1080p 60fps with some modest graphical updates (should be fine) then this might be the time.

 

[Spukc]

I have been waiting for the right chance to do a complete playtrhough of Ocarina of Time. I tried the 3DS version but I couldnt get into it on the small screen.

If this can run at 1080p 60fps with some modest graphical updates (should be fine) then this might be the time.

You can get ocarina of time for the 3ds extremely cheap dude.

Then rip the game from you cart.

Dump games with godmode9

Dump games with godmode9. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

gist.github.com

To mod your 3ds for homebrew it's pretty simple.

3DS Hacks Guide

A complete guide to 3DS custom firmware

3ds.hacks.guide

After you did this. (trust me it's not difficult)

Citra - Nintendo 3DS Emulator

to play on pc

Imo It's the best OoT version there is with much needed QoL improvements!
I loved playing it on my 3ds the first time.



https://community.citra-emu.org/t/h...e-3d-hd-texture-pack-v1-2-1-2020-11-24/145816 info on pc mods

 

[DGrayson]

Ya I know ... but lol.

I own the game still for my 3ds. I'm not opposed to emulating it. But would like to play the OG version

 

[Spukc]

Ya I know ... but lol.

I own the game still for my 3ds. I'm not opposed to emulating it. But would like to play the OG version

Just wear mittens and ducttape them together on your back. replace joystick with cacti. Smear vaseline in eyes

OG experience

 

[DGrayson]

Just wear mittens and ducttape them together on your back. replace joystick with cacti. Smear vaseline in eyes

OG experience

Lol. Ya let's see what kind if graphical mods they can come up with.

 

[FromDuskTillGameOver]

You can get ocarina of time for the 3ds extremely cheap dude.

Then rip the game from you cart.

Dump games with godmode9

Dump games with godmode9. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

gist.github.com

To mod your 3ds for homebrew it's pretty simple.

3DS Hacks Guide

A complete guide to 3DS custom firmware

3ds.hacks.guide

After you did this. (trust me it's not difficult)

Citra - Nintendo 3DS Emulator

to play on pc

Imo It's the best OoT version there is with much needed QoL improvements!
I loved playing it on my 3ds the first time.



https://community.citra-emu.org/t/h...e-3d-hd-texture-pack-v1-2-1-2020-11-24/145816 info on pc mods

Citra is awesome, i used my 2016 3dOled to play 3ds Games in 4k/3d glory.

 

[Neo_Geo]

You can get ocarina of time for the 3ds extremely cheap dude.

Then rip the game from you cart.

Dump games with godmode9

Dump games with godmode9. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

gist.github.com

To mod your 3ds for homebrew it's pretty simple.

3DS Hacks Guide

A complete guide to 3DS custom firmware

3ds.hacks.guide

After you did this. (trust me it's not difficult)

Citra - Nintendo 3DS Emulator

to play on pc

Imo It's the best OoT version there is with much needed QoL improvements!
I loved playing it on my 3ds the first time.



https://community.citra-emu.org/t/h...e-3d-hd-texture-pack-v1-2-1-2020-11-24/145816 info on pc mods

Or let someone else do the hard work for you and click a link. If you own the game, then there is nothing wrong with taking the easy way.

 

[Spukc]

Or let someone else do the hard work for you and click a link. If you own the game, then there is nothing wrong with taking the easy way.

i kinda like ripping my own stuff man.
did the same with the mini console collections.

 

[deriks]

But why? Ocarina 3D is way much better. Do a PC port from that

If was Majora's Mask, I'll be ok. Majora's 3D is slow

 

[MeatSafeMurderer]

Surely by calling it "Zelda" and copying the assets

They don't provide the assets though. These kind of projects are a "bring your own game" affair. Of course what happens is that third-parties who are not so scrupulous as the reverse engineering team inevitably host the completed package with all the copyrighted assets included.

 

[Kamina]

I have been waiting for the right chance to do a complete playtrhough of Ocarina of Time. I tried the 3DS version but I couldnt get into it on the small screen.

If this can run at 1080p 60fps with some modest graphical updates (should be fine) then this might be the time.

OOT3D 1080-4k at 60 fps *fap fap*

 

[Xisiqomelir]

PUMPED

Time to scour taobao for a knockoff usb claw controller with rumble

 

[DGrayson]

But why? Ocarina 3D is way much better. Do a PC port from that

If was Majora's Mask, I'll be ok. Majora's 3D is slow

Im guessing by finishing this they will be able to do Majora's Mask much faster.

 

[nkarafo]

Ocarina of Time with more than 15FPS? What sort of heresy is this?

You mean 20.

 

[samjaza]

Wait what? Surely by calling it "Zelda" and copying the assets (even if not re-used) in terms of shape and in the spirit of the game, they are totally in breach of copyright if Nintendo decides to sue.
Besides, even if it were technically legal, Nintendo has more than enough money to start a legal battle that nobody can afford to prolong.

Nintendo takes action against Mario 64 PC port | VGC

Download links and YouTube videos targeted following fan-made port’s release…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Nintendo already started going after people hosting the Mario port so the same will happen with this.

That was an unofficial build of mario64 using the assets from the game, it is sperate from the decompilation project.
This new project is the same, its not using anything from the original, what people do with the code afterwards is seperate.

 

[Rodolink]

waiting eager for it. world be a dream come true. imagine RT, better textures etc without emulator glitches

 

[FromDuskTillGameOver]

waiting eager for it. world be a dream come true. imagine RT, better textures etc without emulator glitches

We need a private NAS for us Gaffers to save all that software before big N comes with the lawers. Its really risky searching for this stuff online. maybe something like the old torrent boards with invites only and upload responsebillity

 

[DGrayson]

We need a private NAS for us Gaffers to save all that software before big N comes with the lawers. Its really risky searching for this stuff online. maybe something like the old torrent boards with invites only and upload responsebillity

use a VPN?

 

[Evil Calvin]

Regardless how they are doing it or where they get the code, or if it's from scratch. Nintendo WILL shut it down. This is the company who shuts down fan conventions based on Nintendo properties. Most likely they will wait until it's 99% done and then begin the legal process.

 

[FromDuskTillGameOver]

use a VPN?

im not worried about legal problems. im more concerned about virus infested sites/downloads

 

[Feather049]

This game is such a masterpiece and I love how so many years later, the community for it is still going that strong. By the way, I have checked out the creator's videos on this port. Interesting...

 

[Neo_Geo]

i kinda like ripping my own stuff man.
did the same with the mini console collections.

Same. I loved every minute of using a DVD burner without proper ECC ability to archive my PSX collection and backing up my Wii collection using my LG GH#### (Can't remember specifics) DVD drive, but for those that only want to play, the legwork is thankfully already done.

 

[kiphalfton]

i kinda like ripping my own stuff man.
did the same with the mini console collections.

Wii, gamecube, and wii u are relatively straightforward. As is PS2. Xbox is too, to some extent, but I still don't believe there's a good PC emulator for that so I just use my modded xbox. Have also heard PS3 is straight forward, but you need the right blu-ray drive for pc.

 

[MeatSafeMurderer]

Regardless how they are doing it or where they get the code, or if it's from scratch. Nintendo WILL shut it down.

No, they'll try to. The law is on the reverse engineering team's side. It'll stay up on github just like the Super Mario 64 decompilation project did.

GitHub - n64decomp/sm64: A Super Mario 64 decompilation, brought to you by a bunch of clever folks.

A Super Mario 64 decompilation, brought to you by a bunch of clever folks. - n64decomp/sm64

github.com

 

[PumpkinPie]

I work for Nintendo, so thanks for notifying me of this. I'll get the cease and desist written up straight away

 

[Pejo]

Why the fuck do people still release early info for Nintendo projects. They know they're going to get C&D'ed

 

[FromDuskTillGameOver]

Why the fuck do people still release early info for Nintendo projects. They know they're going to get C&D'ed

bc you need the attention to recruit new developers to help the project grow

 

[DGrayson]

Why the fuck do people still release early info for Nintendo projects. They know they're going to get C&D'ed

For smaller projects there is a real risk. But the Zelda OOT thirst is real. This will eventually get leaked (if finished)

 

[D.Final]

Zelda: Ocarina of Time PC port looks likely as fan decompilation ‘clears 60%’​

A similar reverse-engineered Super Mario 64 project resulted in a PC port last year

A Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time PC port is looking more and more likely, as a fan decompilation project clears 60% completion.

The community-driven Zelda Reverse Engineering Team (ZRET) has been working for more than a year to reverse engineer the N64 classic into parsable C code, similar to how fans were able to fully convert Super Mario 64 after a two-year effort.

This kind of reverse engineering is made legal because the fans involved do not use leaked source code for their work and instead painstakingly recreate the N64 game from scratch using modern coding languages.

The decompilation project also does not use any of Nintendo’s original copyrighted assets such as graphics or sound.

In Mario 64’s case, the decompilation efforts eventually resulted in a fully functioning PC port of the N64 game, which is able to scale to any screen resolution and be easily modded by the community with new graphics and modern effects such as ray-tracing.

The N64 game was also ported by fans to work on Nintendo 3DS and run at 60fps. Any potential Ocarina of Time port would presumably allow similar mods, including improved visuals like those seen in the Unreal Engine 4 fan project.

The Ocarina decompilation project looks on course to be finished later this year, based on the pace of progress displayed on its website. The community-based team is focusing on the GameCube Master Quest version of the game, since it features some debug commands to help with their work.

However, any potential PC port is not the focus of the ZRET’s work and would require many months of extra porting by an outside team.

Asked about a potential Zelda: Ocarina of Time PC port last year, project member ‘Rozlette’ told Ars Technica that any such version was “not as easy as just [saying] ‘compile it for Windows’.

“There is a lot of code that deals with talking to N64 hardware. The N64 render pipeline is very different than modern OpenGL, for example,” the person said, adding that the entire process would be “close but not quite” as complex as writing a full N64 emulator.

“It remains quite difficult, especially when considering changes that are considered implicit with a PC target, like being able to change the resolution or framerate,” another member added.

Outside of potential PC ports, the Zelda: Ocarina of Time decompilation project could have huge implications for hacks, as well as historical preservation and the discovery of new bugs which could be utilised by the speedrunning community.

Source: VGC

Really interesting project

 

[fart town usa]

I have been waiting for the right chance to do a complete playtrhough of Ocarina of Time. I tried the 3DS version but I couldnt get into it on the small screen.

If this can run at 1080p 60fps with some modest graphical updates (should be fine) then this might be the time.

Probably not what you're looking for but the WiiU version looks damn good. It's still pointy as hell but the added clarity to the visuals and the resolution on the gamepad make it look fantastic. The analog dead zone is off though so it makes certain minigames more or less impossible to complete due to the aiming being so touchy/lagish. Haven't had any issues during battles or boss fights though. Just a thought. I assume you have a WiiU lying around, any serious gamer has a WiiU front and center in their entertainment center.

 

[DGrayson]

Probably not what you're looking for but the WiiU version looks damn good. It's still pointy as hell but the added clarity to the visuals and the resolution on the gamepad make it look fantastic. The analog dead zone is off though so it makes certain minigames more or less impossible to complete due to the aiming being so touchy/lagish. Haven't had any issues during battles or boss fights though. Just a thought. I assume you have a WiiU lying around, any serious gamer has a WiiU front and center in their entertainment center.

I do have a Wii U, been playing it every weekend

But i thought the Wii U verion was based on teh Gamecube version so 20 FPS

 

[fart town usa]

I do have a Wii U, been playing it every weekend

But i thought the Wii U verion was based on teh Gamecube version so 20 FPS

Ha. Good for you dude!

I can't speak to framerate, totally ignorant of the ins and outs with the various OOT ports. If you do take the plunge I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's easily been a decade+ since I played it on the N64 so I don't even remember at this point if that version is better/worse than others. I still think that the N64 controller will always be the best way to play it though. The button layout was masterful for certain games.

 

[BlackTron]

Ha. Good for you dude!

I can't speak to framerate, totally ignorant of the ins and outs with the various OOT ports. If you do take the plunge I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's easily been a decade+ since I played it on the N64 so I don't even remember at this point if that version is better/worse than others. I still think that the N64 controller will always be the best way to play it though. The button layout was masterful for certain games.

I totally agree. The N64 controller is the only way I will play this game. Playing the ocarina with the C-Stick on GC was bad. And you can't beat the precision of the OG 64 stick for reliable aiming without the deadzone. This is why Goldeneye is the only console FPS I could ever get into...don't underestimate the quality of this wackyass looking controller. Just play it on a Nintendo 64 lol.