The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker/Unused Rooms/Page One

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A_nami


The collision mesh for this room is the same as the one used in the room called VrTest. The reason why the island is invisible is because the island model is missing from the archive so it never gets loaded. shows what the island looks like when it is loaded in-game. The actor setup is also the same as VrTest's, with the addition of some Bokoblins, a Moblin, and some large trees.

A_R00


The archive here contains a file that claims to be a BMD; however, the model is actually in a strange plain-text format. When converted, it appears to be the collision mesh of an old version of the inside of Hyrule Castle. According to the header, the file was generated on July 19th, 2002.



The DZB collision model, on the other hand, is normal, and seems to belong to the forest area shown in the very first The Wind Waker trailer, where Link interacts with a few Moblins and is surrounded by glowing particles reminiscent of the ones seen in Forest Haven.

Only after the old model file of Hyrule Castle is replaced with a regular model format, or deleted entirely (as in A_nami), will this group load as seen here. In this video, a custom bdl model of the original collision model was created to replace the old Hyrule Castle model in the group to make the map both visible and playable in-game for the first time. The early forest is available under the regular Map Select once the older model is replaced. It is rather unstable and tends to crash often. Interestingly, the layout of the area bears a passing resemblance to the Forest of Fairies in the final game, the area on top of Outset Island where Link rescues Tetra and can return to later for a Fairy Fountain. Both share the forest theme, thin logs that Link can crawl through, stumps to be climbed, and a small clearing at the end. It is a possibility that this is an early version of that area.

Abship


Abship contains all of the normal Submarine maps, but Room3.arc is never loaded in-game. The room itself looks like any other of the submarine maps. The only thing in the map is a lone torch in the center of the room. The small subroom(Top center in the picture above) where a treasure chest would have been located is unreachable without using cheats. Right above the ledge to the subroom is a ladder embedded within the ceiling that is suppose to drop down to provide access to the subroom should the puzzle in the room be solved. Since there is no puzzle to solve in the room, it is also unreachable. Trying to leave the room through the doorway crashes the game which is mostly likely caused by the fact that the room doesn't appear to have any defined exits.

Amos_T


A test map with a variety of terrain, including steps, ramps, ladders, crawl spaces, slippery floors, and a pool of water. Notably, the body of water in this room uses a transparent texture, rather than the opaque blue texture used in other maps.

The textures used in this map, and many other testing rooms, are recycled from Super Mario Sunshine.



Interestingly, there is walkable terrain at the bottom of the pool. This could be a remnant of the fabled "Water Boots" or a ditched feature of the Iron Boots which are speculated to have allowed you to sink underwater like the Iron Boots from Ocarina of Time. Regardless of which, one reason why this ability could have been ditched is because the game takes place over an entire ocean. This could cause some major issues story-wise, like using the boots to sink to Hyrule early, and programming-wise, like where Link would appear when he sunk to Hyrule.

Interestingly, some concept art included in Hyrule Historia suggests Old Hyrule was enclosed in a dome you could only get to (and potentially explore, like Subrosia?) by using some special magic portals, guarded by fishermen. The Great Sea in the final game does have a featureless invisible plane not very deep at the bottom, as remants of this plan. Using cheat codes, it is possible to walk on it.

Cave06


This room appears to be an early version of the last room to the Savage Labyrinth. The prize here, a piece of heart, is the same as it is in the final version. The chest here requires Link to play the Wind's Requiem to appear compared to the final version where the chest is ready and waiting to be opened by Link. The room itself is in the same style as the first set of rooms in the final version of the Savage Labyrinth.

The exit leads to the Savage Labyrinth entrance on Outset Island.

Cave08


The three rooms seen here are earlier versions of their counterparts in the Wind Temple. According to the Map Select's description of this area, it was used to create and test Makar's kidnapping by Floormasters. Among other things, these rooms use a darker, flatter lighting.



There are several differences between "Cave08" old version of Wind Temple and the final version "kaze", detailed here.

Cave11
This group contains 21 rooms, some or all of which are unused rooms from the Savage Labyrinth. There are at least five unused rooms in this group. The rooms presented in this list are essentially copies of some existing rooms in this very long cave, but with doors on the sides that serve no purpose. Any pits that Link can fall into will lead to used rooms or will otherwise crash the game.

Room16:



Present in this room are six Yellow Chuchus that drop from the ceiling when Link gets close enough. As usual for any room in the Savage Labyrinth, there is a pit surrounded by a ring of fire. Link must defeat all the enemies in the room to have access to the pit. After taking the pit, the next room is level 28 of the Savage Labyrinth which contains 3 Armos and a Wizzrobe. This indicates that this unused room was intended to be level 27 of this cave. As a comparison, the final level 27 contains 2 Green Bokoblins and a Darknut.

Room17:



This room contains 4 Armos and a pit surrounded by fire. Once again, defeating all enemies allows for access to the pit. The next room after taking the pit is level 29 of the Savage Labyrinth which contains 2 Armos Knights and 2 Red Bubbles. This indicates that this was originally floor 28 of the Savage Labyrinth. As a comparison, the final level 28 contains 3 Armos and a Wizzrobe.

Room18:



This room contains 2 Armos Knights and a pit surrounded by fire. Defeating all the enemies will (surprise!) allow access to the pit. The next room after taking the pit is level 30 of the Savage Labyrinth which contains 2 Darknuts. This hints that this was originally floor 29 of the Savage Labyrinth. As a comparison, the final level 29 still contains 2 Armos Knights but with the addition of 2 Red Bubbles and bomb flowers. The bomb flowers were probably added in to ensure that the Armos Knights could always be defeated, even if you didn't have any bombs with you.

Room19:



Inside of this room contains 2 Darknuts that are walking around and a pit that is surrounded by fire. Can you guess how you can gain access to the pit? The next room after taking the pit is level 31 of the Savage Labyrinth which contains a Triforce chart. This hints that this was originally floor 30 of the Savage Labyrinth. Enemywise, this room is the same as the final version except that the 2 Darknuts in the final floor 30 stand in one place until you approach them.

Room20:



This room contains three pots, a pit and a warp. The three pots contain a bunch of rupees. The two pots closer to Link's spawn point contain only green rupees while the furthest pot contains a variety of rupees. Altogether Link can acquire 72 rupees. Taking the pit will only crash the game but taking the warp, on the other hand, will lead you to the first floor(or the entrance) of the Savage Labyrinth which is the floor that contains the pot with the three fairies. Looking at the pattern of the previous unused rooms in this list, it wouldn't be out of line to guess that this could have been floor 31.

DmSpot0


This is the version of Outset Island shown at E3 2002, which can be seen in action here.

E3ROOP


An early version of the boating course islands. The file name indicates that it was created for E3.

Ebesso


An early island with an untextured house sitting in the middle of a circular shallow pond. Besides the house, which can't be entered, there isn't anything else here. The map's name, "besso", means villa. This, and the fact that it is located at the center of an oasis, draw parallels to Link's Oasis in the final game. If Link tries to walk up the stairs, the area resets like Link fell into a bottomless pit.

ENDumi


Based on the actor setup, this room was meant to be used for the scene where Link and Tetra wake up on the ocean surface after Hyrule finally floods. Though the model included with the map is only water, the collision mesh is from the three Triangle Islands; Tetra can be found standing on the walkable part of this mesh. Aryll can also be seen on the pirate ship, wearing her Second Quest dress.



Note: Using the option "３コン（A）：デモ２３" with "ON" in the demo "エンディング" on the list "32. デモ" in the Map Select, you can also play there after the ending scene with Link and Tetra on the sea.

GanonC


Room0 of this area is the Wind Chamber from Ganon's Tower, but the other five Rooms make up part of an early version of Phantom Ganon's maze. One of the exits leads to Kalle Demos' rematch map. Also, some exits lead to the various temple-themed challenges found in the Tower.

H_test


Bizarrely, this area has a bunch of pigs in it. The textures of this room don't quite fit with the cartoon style of the game, indicating a very old leftover. The Map Select reveals that event camera movements were tested here.

Room1
A button that controls a grate in the final Wind Temple is absent in the early version.

Room2
Room2, the main room of the Wind Temple, had several things tweaked between Cave08 and kaze.

Most obstacles, like the Peahats and the spinning blades on the outer edge of the room, have been moved between the early Wind Temple and the final.

Stones in the earlier version's copy of Makar's prison cell were, at some point, changed to grass.

In the final Wind Temple, there is a chest near the ceiling of the room. However, Cave08's version of this chest requires Link to stomp on a switch with the iron boots to make it appear. The contents of the chest are the same as in the final version.

Finally, a door that leads to a key in both versions is blocked in Cave08. To open it, Makar must plant two of his trees. In the final version, the door is not locked.

Room3
The chest containing one of Tingle's statues isn't present in Cave08. The location of the chest is the small red cube on the second image.

Extra Door


Cave08's Stage.arc contains an earlier copy of the Wind Temple's DZS file, which defines such settings as doors and chests. Interestingly, there is an extra door entry that isn't found in the final dungeon. The only way to see this anomaly is to replace the final Wind Temple's Stage.arc with Cave08's, as the latter does not contain the room in which the door is placed.

The extra door is located on the opposite wall from a door in Room7, which is the long wind tunnel room filled with Wizrobes. When Room7 and the unused Room6 are compared against the location of the door, as seen in this picture, it is revealed that it would have connected the two chambers. Moreover, a spawn point for Link is still present in the final version, although it's been lowered into the ground.

Maps Comparison
Every room in this early map is present in the final one. The only differences between them are the placement of items on B1 and 1F.


 * The Compass on B1 is a purple rupee in the early version.
 * 1F has two changes: in the prototype, the Compass is where the Map is in the final and the Map is where an orange rupee is. It's possible that the Map's placement was altered because it would have been too easy to acquire, especially right at the start of the dungeon, and moving it deeper in adds a little more challenge.