This Ocarina Of Time staff interview was published in The 64 Dream issue #31 from 1999.
Translated by
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The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time: Development Staff Questionnaire
Hear straight from members of the Nintendo development staff! Their portraits are characters that they were fans of.
1. Something difficult about development/development secret
2. Something they want to tell players
Jin Ikeda
Character design (Mainly enemies, also Cucco’s etc)
It was a constant process of re-doing and re-drafting. I can probably count on one hand how many times I’ve designed something that was given approval right away. Speaking on difficulties, the Lord Jabu-Jabu we see is actually the third attempt. The second iteration Jabu-Jabu was yellow, while the very first iteration had a psychedelic pattern. Figuring out how to make them look like a living creature was perhaps our biggest challenge. But he’s kind of a mysterious creature, isn’t he? While living what kinds of things are they thinking about? Furthermore, King Dodongo. What kind of shape would make it rotate naturally? When I first heard about this, I buried my head in the sand for a little while.
You should certainly look around in every nook and cranny in Ocarina of Time’s world, without saying too much, I think lots of interesting things can be discovered. For about 3 years I worked like my life depended on it so I would be incredibly grateful if you have any enjoyment from playing! Lastly, please be kind to the cuccos.
Shinichi Ikematsu
Dungeon Design (Fire Temple, Water Temple, Shadow Temple, Bottom of the Well)
I had a little bit of trouble with some of the Water Temple’s technical designs, things like the water illumination, player control and adjusting within the space of the dungeon, and how to configure and modify the terrain and layout of the dungeon.
Please explore all over the place! During debugging and testing I probably played with it more than 10 times and it was still fun.
Yoji Inagaki
Non-enemy sound effects, Ocarina system, pseudo-surround sound etc, sound programming
Due to the immense size of this game, it was obvious that many sound effects needed to be created. In the end, there were only two supervisors tasked with creating over 1000 different sounds which were carefully created one by one to match the atmosphere and feeling of the scenes from the game. On the other hand, the Ocarina which was the subtitle of the project, was initially intended to be similar to a real ocarina, requiring complex button combinations and playing correct note lengths to be used properly. Since the Ocarina is such an important item throughout the entire game, we decided that it was best to simplify the system, and in the end, we were able to simplify the system while also maintaining the music. I think you will find that the new system is very fun.
One by one we tried our best to match the sound effects to the feeling of the game, as if to immerse players in the huge adventure taking place in Hyrule. In order to do this, we thought the sound of birds chirping was an important aspect to focus on. So, we programmed a system where each time the birds can be heard the sound is slightly different. In addition, we also focused on applying 3D and underwater audio processing to fully immerse players; especially those who want to hear these sounds as loud as they can.
DAIKI IWAMOTO
Cutscenes, Assistant Director
With cutscenes, lots of interesting and different ideas came to mind, but many were rejected because of the specification changes, which was discouraging.
The goal so the Cutscene staff was to create CD-ROM level cutscenes on the ROM-based cartridge. I thought the animation data was really something else. We tried to make the various amimations such as turning around, or showing surprise look the same by panning the camera during the middle of cutscenes for a more dynamic feel. I think they are the best existing real-time cutscenes because of the attention to detail that went into them.
Toshio Iwawaki
Player, Game system programming
Player animation programming was tinkered with quite a bit, sometimes causing limbs to bend in strange directions.
If you have yet to clear the game, I haven’t either so let’s do our best to finish it!
Kenta Usui
Dungeon Design
I was in charge of the first half of dungeons in the game, so I had to create a simple structure, like a training ground for the users, while at the same time wanting to create a more complex and elaborate map.
The development of this game was very fun. Playing the game is just as fun! But debugging was tiresome…
Toru Osawa
Script
Between the staff and the more than 100 people who were testers each had a different favourite character, and if they didn’t like a character’s catchphrase or dialogue even a little bit they would demand head-on that we fix/change it!
Please stroll around the land of Hyrule at a leisurely pace. So, make your own discoveries and find your own space. Create your own secret base like from your childhood, try the things that you’re not allowed to do now because they’re too dangerous. It will be lots of fun (Save the world while you’re at it if you feel like it)
Masatoshi Ogawa
Camera
In Zelda, we intentionally place great importance on the sense of unity amongst the players. The system and camera’s movement are directly linked to each other so we like to keep in mind that users must be able to understand how to control and use the camera properly. In the same vein, we tried to make the camera automatically face the direction you want to see as much as possible, in a similar way to how jumping is automated, but we struggled mostly with the issue of how difficult the camera becomes to operate when it’s swung around quickly.
“Is Zelda done?” I often thought this during development. “Well, was it completed?” I thought immediately after development finished. There were many things were still could have done, and also many things left undone. However, I’m sure when we develop the next game, we will be able to pack even more things into that game.
Takumi Kawagoe
Camera Supervision and data setup, movie (cutscenes) creation
I created the title screen video while searching for nice places in the plains of Hyrule field. I just so happened to find a good camera position that framed the moon in the background nicely, so I used it for the first cut of the video.
The event movies are also affected by different times of day, so if you have a chance, please view these events at different times you might see scenes in a new light.
Shigeo Kimura
Mainly arranging Hyrule Field object positioning
The beanstalks specifications changed just before the deadline. We made the trajectory to match the terrain but during the debugging we had to modify the pathing to make it more safe and secure. My favourite bean is the one in front of the Spirit Temple so I recommend riding that one the most.
Please explore freely before solving the puzzles too quickly. There’s fun to be had everywhere, isn’t it fun to just look at the falling rocks, flags blowing in the wind, flying butterflies etc.? If you get bored of the game, go hiking in the mountains, while looking at nature try to remember the land of Hyrule from time to time.
Tomoaki Kuroume
General effects and item usage related instructions
Torch and fire related effects proved difficult. It was really difficult to perfect the effects, so I had to re-do them countless times to make it work.
The cutscene effects and receiving item animations are only seen once, so please pay close attention to them.
Yoshiaki Koizumi
3D Systems Director, Character Design (Link and others)
Link’s basic motion has over 500 patterns. Because of the synthesis of the program there’s actually more. Aside from the cutscenes, all the animations were handmade, so now even if I see one motion, I’m not sure which one it is anymore. The thing that changed the most was the notification/alert system. The basics of operations haven’t changed but the details were always changing.
We often received complaints about the camera system because it was difficult to use. So we ended up lowering the cameras, and including the notification system (Navi) to be able to highlight scenery to the player’s attention. Gazing out at the scenery in Hyrule or Death Mountain as the sun sets is almost like a game right?
Koji Kondo
Composer
While looking at each of the dungeons one by one, the graphics and puzzles got me all excited. I thought to myself “Oh this is what I want as a user not as a staff member”. Incorporating various elements into each song allowed me to elevate the normal gameplay experience by adding an extra bit of immersion through music.
There are two versions of the Soundtrack CD right now. The first is the Pony Canyon (record label) release, which was the original release version. After that there is also the Media Factory release which is comprised of string arrangements. It’s very moving to hear the nostalgic tunes of previous Zelda games like this. Soon a third album will be released by Tokuma Japan. (Editor’s note, this CD includes Epona’s theme which was written by Mr. Miyamoto)
Hiromasa Shikata
Area Design
It was difficult to express the natural connections between different areas such as the mountain path looking down on Kakariko Village compared to seeing the windmill from the ground level. In order to show the distance between areas properly, I was tasked with creating the Haunted Wasteland (lit. Desert of Illusion). This proved quite difficult in the end.
I think our constant iterating has resulted in extremely dense and polished materials and visuals, so please try solving the puzzles and experimenting with items in the main areas.
Yasunari Soejima
General Visual design
The Pause menu where items can be selected was reworked 5-6 times, with the 3D stick operation working in a different way each time before somehow being completed after countless iterations. While developing the Japanese version, we also created the English version as well as the French and German language versions which was a challenge for me to say the least as I was completing most of the work.
If you read the strategy guide, I’m sure you will discover many new things about the game. (In fact, I didn’t collect all the Golden Skulltulas or the Pieces of Heart). I think even if you’ve beaten the game once, there’s probably still lots to do and enjoy over and over again.
Mitsuhiro Takano
Coordinator
In order to develop the game in Japanese and English at the same time, some of the English version staff would travel between America and Japan. (It was not uncommon to find that translated passages had been changed when brought to Japan). Naturally, some Japanese puns would not be understood if translated literally, but the English staff understood the world of Zelda and translated it well, so I think that the overseas version also turned out to be interesting (One example of this is a hint one of the Deku Scrubs give in the first dungeon. It is translated as 2 3 1, referencing basketball player Michael Jordan’s jersey number (23) is No.1!
The staff reads all the fan letters sent in about the Zelda series!
Satoru Takizawa
Character Design
Trial and Error: I had to redesign the Epona horse riding mini-game 5 or 6 times in order to express the muscle movements of Epona and the other horses while reducing the amount of data was displayed on screen so as to not lag the game out. At the end of the game Ganon is presented in his Pig-form just like on the Super Nintendo, I can’t tell you how many sketches I made of this design…Finally, this is a secret development fact, but my voice was actually used as Link’s during development, oh and also at the time during Spaceworld! (laughs)
The design concept in my head this time was two-fold. I wanted to make a cool character that was also funny or a character that could make you laugh but was a bit scary. If you can, be on the lookout for those types of characters!
Hiromu Takemura
Region Map, Polygon? Room (my best guess is the final piece of the game where you’re at Ganon’s castle in the 6-sided room but I’m not sure), Items
The scaling was a bit difficult to process at first, I especially had difficult with Link walking too slowly.
Please anticipate the next time, because the N64 is capable of so much more.
Kenzo Hayakawa
Various system programming
We struggled to find a balance between memory, speed, and the beauty of the game itself.
When playing for the first time, definitely don’t use a guide!
Yoshiki Haruhana
Kokiri Villagers Design and Modelling, some enemy design
I might not be pleased with the face of adult Zelda, but we have reached the limit, haven’t we? (Game has been released). It was difficult to create all the characters because there were just so many, but I hope it was worth it. I guess what’s hard is that I couldn’t give every single character the attention I wanted to.
There are a lot of bearded characters, as well as those with perms. There’s lots of different characters so I hope you enjoy them all. Please make your own memories with them
Takeshi Hosono
Dungeon Design
The biggest hurdle was creating an appealing layout. Despite each room being crafted, the most important thing was figuring out how much space was needed for each room, as well as their positioning in the dungeon to connect all the rooms into one cohesive adventure. I personally wanted to create a feeling of the walls condensing in, so the walls are very thin. Things like the painting of Phantom Ganon, the statue design of the evil god and of course the twisting corridor. These are the top three things I worked on the hardest.
Zelda is the type of game you can have so many different types of fun with. It can be interesting to solve things quickly. For example, which staircase leads to the water arrow? It can be very invigorating to solve.
Naoki Mori
Cutscene Director (Storyboard, Director/Producer, Animation etc.)
I oversaw setting up the pre-production such as setting up the tools, finalizing productions processing methods etc. Development secret: Ganon and Talon as voiced by the same person, as were Adult Link and the cursed Skulltula, the Great Fairy voice and Princess Zelda also share the same voice, and lastly, Child Link and the Gerudo Soldiers also are the same, not too bad huh?
The department I previously oversaw was not in charge of the main line of games, so I tried to direct the story so that as many users as possible could enjoy the story and really immerse themselves in it. So, I would really appreciate it that when you look back at the game, you had memorable moments in dungeons, solving puzzles, battling enemies, the visuals and so on.
Kazuaki Morita
Boss programming, Fishing mini-game programming, Breakable signs programming etc.
I joined during development as an assistant. I had a difficult time keeping it a secret that I was developing a fishing mini-game. During that time, I used the Water Temple’s boss room to test fishing. Aside from that, we had planned to have an unprecedented showdown in the Hyrule Field between Link and the Arwing from StarFox. But in the end, it was rejected.
Nintendo’s games are one of the few products Japan gets to boast about to the world.
Makoto Miyanaga
Field Design
The light and fog in the mornings and at dusk were fine-tuned tens of times.
Thank you so much for playing with us, please stay forever as a resident of Hyrule.
Yoichi Yamada
Game Systems etc.
Using polygons on the Super Famicom (SNES) was a bit of a showpiece in games like Zelda and Starfox, and then further down the line in the action game Super Mario 64. This time, our Zelda game is an action-adventure game. A “3D World” and a “Zelda like world” are what exactly? With a new staff, and a new image how do you blend those two ideas together? I think this was generally the theme of this project. Also, the Ocarina originally was supposed to be able to play Do-Re-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do!
In the case of the Zelda series, there are so many methods and specifications that can be changed from the default setup. That’s why I look forward to seeing players’ opinions in magazines like N64 Dream. Thoughts like “Oh you’re playing in a place like that!” are always surprising. I would like to receive these types of thought-provoking comments, so that I can continue to make games that can be enjoyed by creators and users, so please keep having fun and sending them in!
Cut comments: Pg 96
The developer staff took a poll and Hyrule Field and Kokiri Forest were voted as the team’s favourite areas. “I like the sages chambers; with the development tools we could actually walk around using Link in the room. The mood is superb.” (Mr. Yamada) The ending song as well as Saria’s song were very popular. “I love Malon’s song, which is especially eerie and haunting to hear during the night”
Cut comments: Pg 97
“I really enjoyed the sessions with the Bolero of Fire” (Mr. Mori) That was cool, I wonder if you remember the camera split effect. My favourite was by far the Forest Temple followed by Inside the Great Deku Tree. “I liked the Spirit Temple. I got a bit obsessed when inputting camera data” (Mr. Iwamoto)
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