The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker/Unused Textures and Models

Characters and Enemies
These models are either completely unused or just misplaced in a location where they're not seen. The models are listed by a proper name and are followed by their model name within the game.

Rose, ob_comp.bdl


While Rose herself isn't unused, this particular model is: it's located in the cutscene archive dedicated to the rising of the Tower of the Gods (Demo 20). In the final version of the game, she never leaves Outset Island, so it's a mystery why her model is included in a cutscene that isn't anywhere near her home.

It seems that this model was misplaced; however, there is some evidence that the inclusion might mean something more. There are two animations (a BCK and a BTP) in the cutscene archive where the model is found, which are copies of those found in the "Leaving Outset" scene (Demo 5). Interestingly, all three of these files can also be found with the materials for the cutscene in which the King of Red Lions talks to Valoo before the ship, Link, and Tetra travel to Hyrule for the second time (Demo 45). What this suggests is unclear, but it is possible that Rose had a higher purpose in an earlier build of the game.

Fado, fd_comp.bdl


An older version of the Kokiri Wind Sage, Fado. This model is found in the cutscene where Link and Tetra go to Hyrule(Demo 45). This is a strange place for the model to be since, at that point in the game, you haven't met Fado yet. This model differs from the final in that his hair is green, his eyes are open and his sleeves are more "Saria-like". A comparison of the early and final models' main textures reveals that there is only one difference between them: a square in the top-center that has become lighter. As such, the sleeve design used by Fado's early model goes unused in the final. Despite the BTP files labeled for the model not working correctly, there are eye textures for blinking, looking left and looking right. Placeholder textures taking up spots for eyes and mouths suggest that the textures were not complete when the model was cut. Judging from where the model is and how much different it is compared to the final version of Fado, it is safe to say that this is an old leftover.

Jabun dummy model, jb_dummy.bdl
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The .arc containing the resources for Jabun's cutscene, Demo18, also contains the .bdl file called jb_dummy. As its name implies, it's a very rough version of Jabun's final model. It lacks eyes and a proper mouth. One animation exists for the model: jblob_swim.bck, which is just what it sounds like- a swimming animation.

It's interesting to note that the final Jabun model doesn't have a tail; the reason is unknown, but it's possible that it was excluded to reduce the size of the model file since it was never needed. Where a swimming animation would fit (especially one that looks like it's underwater) is unknown. However, since test room "Amos_T" has translucent water, it's very likely that the dummy was modeled at a time when they expected to use this type of water.

Gohma
Gohma's unarmored form contains textures for an early version of the boss's exoskeleton. For some reason, the early textures are actually more detailed than the final ones.

Quill's .bck Files
The cutscene archive for Link finding Tetra in the forest on Outset Island, Demo03.arc, contains three animations for, oddly, the Rito character Quill. While Tetra's animations in this archive are prefixed by 03, indicating that they were intended for Demo03, Quill's animations bear a prefix of 10. Demo10 is the cutscene in which the Rito Chieftain discusses Valoo's behavior and gives Link the letter meant for Komali. All three of the animations included in Dem03.arc are present in Demo10.arc

As for the files themselves, their names are 10_bm_cut1_flya, 10_bm_cut1_flyb, and 10_bm_cut5_look_oyakata. The first animation is of Quill flapping his wings, the second involves him flapping his wings while shaking his head, and the last animation is of Quill looking up. While 10_bm_cut5_look_oyakata has a wait counterpart in Demo10 (10_bm_cut5_wait_oyakata), it isn't present in Demo03.

The inclusion of these animations suggests that at some point in development, Quill was meant to have gone to check on Tetra after she fell into the forest. In the final build of the game, Quill first appears in a frenzy when he notices the Helmaroc King flying overhead. He makes his first real entrance while Tetra and her crew are discussing whether to let Link stow away on their ship or leave him on Outset. An unused music sequence file titled tetra_meet_b, which has a very different mood from the stream used in the final version of the cutscene, might have been part of the cutscene when Quill was involved in it.

Objects
Various objects that ended up unused for one reason or another.

Early firefly, ff.bmd


This strange firefly with textures resembling those of unused little green bird. This model is accompanied by current models of fireflies.

Island trading sequence cubes, flag_a.bdl


These models were probably placeholders for the various items you can get from the Goron merchants found across the Great Sea.



This flag reads "旗　赤い手旗" (Flag: Red Hand-Flag).



This flag reads "旗　大売り出しの旗" (Flag: Sale Flag).



This flag reads "旗　大漁祈願の旗" (Flag: Prayer For a Big Catch Flag).



This flag reads "旗　勇者の旗" (Flag: Hero Flag).

Eye platform, hyuf2.bdl


This is an older version of the eye platforms found in the Tower of the Gods. Interestingly, the design of the platform matches the style of the cut rooms of that same dungeon; it was probably scrapped when the Tower was redesigned. Nonetheless, the platform is spawned in one of the test rooms.

Stone, krock_01.bmd


A small stone with unique textures.

Bird, kt_model.bmd


This little bird cannot be found in normal maps and where it was even suppose to appear is a mystery. This bird does appear to be mostly working in game. It will fly around and, improperly, land on Link's head. It can be found in one of the test levels.

Darknut statue, itnak.bdl


This strange model is obviously a Darknut. Loading it in-game reveals that it is indeed a statue, and creates sparks when struck with the sword. It might have been used to test effects created when hitting something with the sword.

Weird head, long.bmd


A head with glasses, quite possibly the strangest unused model in the game. Delirium, programmers?

Test cube, mcube.bmd


This cube is used in testing areas.

Test cylinder, mcyln.bmd


Like the cube, the cylinder is used in testing areas.

Little heavy stone, obm_koisi2.bdl


This little black stone is heavy like the huge rocks. This model uses the same texture as the other stone, but darker.

Poe, po_test.bdl


A very early Poe model. Most of the model is missing textures. Only the face and hands have textures and, for some reason, the hands use the same texture as the face. This model has at least one animation called "wait.bck". As can be expected, the animation makes the Poe model hover in place, as if it is waiting. The animation can be seen in the video below.

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Chandelier, syan.bdl


This chandelier was used in the scene where several Moblins chased Link in the trailer from SpaceWorld 2001. This chandelier has two animations called "syan.bck" and "syan2.bck". The first animation doesn't seem to animate the model much besides separate the chandelier from the rope. The second animation also separates the chandelier from the rope but it is also a real animation. It makes the chandelier and rope swing together. Both animations can be seen in the video below at 0:46 and 1:15 respectively. The chandelier can be found in one of the test levels, but it is scaled down quite a bit. The chandelier doesn't have any collision files associated with it so it isn't possible to land or hang on it as was shown in the SpaceWorld trailer. T7oKOLIj-bg

Small forest, s_forest.bmd


A model consisting of tree stumps centered around a complete tree. What it could have been used for is anyone's guess.

Wooden Door, door10.bdl


This model of a wooden door was found in the Stage.arc of I_TestM, the older of two copies of a test room. It seems to have been a placeholder for the unique dungeon doors found in the final game.

Animations
Choreography that was ultimately cut.

"Poor" Maggie
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The .arc file Pm contains Maggie's "poor" model and some associated animations. One of the animation files, talk01.bck, shows her talking. Normally, you cannot talk to her until after she is rescued from the Forsaken Fortress, at which point she becomes rich; her "rich" model is contained in a different .arc with its own set of animations.

Though it is possible to talk to her in one of the character testing maps, she doesn't use the animation. The presence of this animation suggests that she wasn't supposed to be kidnapped until sometime before the second Forsaken Fortress trip. It is also possible that there was a time when you could talk to her when she was in the Forsaken Fortress (perhaps you had to free Maggie and Mila individually at some point?), before the only appearances she made were in cutscenes.

Link Swimming


Link is fully animated while swimming, but because all water is opaque you cannot normally see anything other than his head. As mentioned above, some test rooms do use transparent water. Interestingly, if you L target and swim left, right or backwards, Link's animations will be the same as if you L target on land and move left, right or backwards. Again, this is something normally not seen.

Sleeping Zelda
In the cut scene arc that contains the sequence where Ganondorf morphs into Puppet Ganon, there are two animations (one .bck and one .btp) of Zelda sleeping. However, this animation isn't used, as the model of the sheet used on the bed has its own model of Zelda (which is only the head). Moreover, the animation cannot be used with the sheet model, as that model actually has more bones than the standard Zelda model.

Miscellaneous
Is it a character? Is it an object? Things here cannot be placed in either of the above categories.

Early skybox
The Stage folder called "tincle" contains an older version of the skybox. The model file itself is called vr_box.bmd. This skybox is seen in a variety of early screenshots, suggesting that it was cut somewhat late in development.

Model and Pre-Release image



Textures



Earlier skybox
The archive named Title.arc contains a slightly different version of the "VrTest" BMD, as well as another model of the sky much older than vr_box.bmd. The main difference between this version and later versions of the skybox is that this skybox is dome shaped. Later sky boxes are cylindrical in shape with cloud textures around the circumference with separate cloud textures added in the center. This skybox, on the other hand, has cloud textures all over the inside of the dome and doesn't appear to have separate cloud textures.

Model and Pre-Release image



Textures



Pirate Ship bottom
The Pirate Ship has a bottom which is partially obscured by the Great Sea, not unlike Link's swimming animations.

Enemy weapons icon


It was originally intended that picking up an enemy weapon switched your sword icon to one of these. This can be seen in early screenshots, but it's not used in the final. The Boko Stick icon is used as a placeholder for the icons called longsword and spear internally, which most likely correspond to a Darknut's sword and a Moblin's spear, respectively.

Item icons
Water Boots



The icon spells out the English words "Water Boots" in hiragana (oddly, since foreign words are almost always written in katakana). Trying to use it makes Link jump as if you were switching his boots as shown in the video below.

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The following codes can be used in game to replace the 4th Bottle on the inventory screen with the the Water Boots.

Wind Waker Stone



Internally, the Wind Waker is called baton, so this is the "Wind Waker Stone". It isn't clear how this item was intended to be used. Unlike the previous item which can be equipped through hacking, the only thing that exists of this item is its icon.



These three symbols were probably supposed to appear in some text in relation to this stone.

Extra Sail Icons



Within the folder where the previous icons were found, there are three icons dedicated to sails. They are found within sail_00.bti, sail_01.bti and sail_02.bti. Besides their names, they all use the same image and are also identical bitwise. While the icon itself is used, you only get one sail in the final version of the game. This begs the question of why there are two copies of the same icon to begin with. An answer to this can be found within the framework.map file in the ISO. There are three sails listed called the normal sail, the zora sail and the tincle sail (anything to do with Tingle is called tincle internally). There is no Zora or Tingle sail in the final version of the game so the two extra icons are most likely placeholder icons for these sails. It isn't known how these two sails would differ from the normal sail but perhaps they had special abilities. For example, the Zora sail might have made you sail through water faster, not unlike in Wind Waker HD.

Extra Power Bracelet Icon



Similar to the extra sail icons, there are also one extra power bracelet icon stored in gloves_01.bti which is identical to gloves_00.bti in every way except in name. Again, the icon itself is used but you only get the power bracelets once in game. This extra icon could be a placeholder graphic for what was to be an upgraded version of the power bracelets.

Temporary icon



A dungeon map with Japanese kanji on it - "仮" (kari/ka/ke), which translates to "temporary".

Sign texture


The file wood_piece_01.bti contains an old version of the sign background texture, and is identical to the one seen in a picture from E3 2002.



Wind Direction Texture


This texture reads "wind direction" and may have been used on the compass. Its filename is kazzamuki, a misspelling of kazamuki, which is what it says in Japanese.

Unused Room/Map Textures
The textures below are listed according to which room or map they are found in. The rooms/maps are listed by a proper name, if they have one, and are followed by their internal name within the game.

Test Rooms










E3 Outset Island, DmSpot0
This texture is found inside the door to Orca's house.



H_test
The textures are quite nice, but don't quite fit with the cartoon style of the game.





I_SubAN
Some of these are kind of odd, and their quality suggests that they were cut relatively early.





Fire Mountain, Kazan
Test textures for water and rocks, respectively. Their file name indicates that they were once used for the volcano (kazan in Japanese).



Msmoke
More really old textures.



Tower of the Gods, Siren
Used in the early rooms of the Tower of the Gods. Note that H_bz01 and H_mon01 are used at least once: H_bz01 is the ceiling of the room where the three statues activate the teleport up, and H_mon01 is part of the ceiling on the top floor of the Auction House.







tincle
This room, probably one of the strangest in the game, has only two textures. The second texture features what seems to be an Ocarina of Time-style fairy.



Unused Mini-Maps
Some of these come from older versions of the game, while others are only test maps. The mini-maps below are in a folder named "dat", used to display mini-maps on-screen.



The mini-map of Outset Island from E3 2002 that would be used for the room DmSpot0.



This mini-map is found in an old version of the Boating Course Island, called E3ROOP internally. The mini-map, however, seems to be an old version of the forest on Outset Island. Something to note is that the space where the Great Fairy is supposed to be is missing.



An unused mini-map of Dragon Roost Cavern. (M_NewD2)



A test mini-map of the Tower of the Gods. It looks like its first room. Notably, this map corresponds to the bottom plane found in the room's model. The final model only uses a portion of that plane, meaning that this version of the mini-map was made when all of its space was in use.(Siren)



The mini-map of the room of the Darknut mini-boss, without outlines. (Siren)



The mini-map of an old version of the boss room of the Tower of the Gods. (Siren)



The mini-map of an old version of the top of the Tower of the Gods. (Siren)



A mini-map used in the Earth Temple. However, it used to belong to the Dragon Roost Cave. (M_Dai)



A test mini-map of the Wind Temple. There is some Japanese writing saying "工事中 (koujichuu)", which translates to "under construction". (kaze)

With the zoom, you can see a very different map where there is also written text.



On this test map is written "2D MAP ダミー" ("2D MAP Dummy" in katakana).



Another unused mini-map in room 3 in "Cave08", the old version of Wind Temple. It seems that this is an old mini-map of mini-boss in the Dragon Roost Cave. (Cave08)

Early Maps
The following mini-maps are different from the mini-maps above. Firstly, they are in a folder named "tex" which isn't in every game map/room group, like "dat" is. There are only three mini-maps with two different sizes, small like normal maps and large. They are much older, too.



A large map of one of the game's test areas named Amos_T and I_TestM internally. There are a few differences between what this map shows and what is in the final test rooms. One difference is that the final test maps are lacking the two pools closer to the right side. The depressions for where the pools were still exist but they do not contain water. Another difference is that there are some structures present in the final test rooms that are not present in this map.



This map would be used for the rooms A_nami and VrTest.



Perhaps the best unused map: a very old version of Outset Island, much older than that from E3 2002. It is very different from the final version (DmSpot0 and others). This map is rotated 180 degrees compared to its later counterparts.

Outset Island comparison
Here is a comparison of all three versions of Outset Island. The early versions of Outset Island both have the forest, called A_mori internally, of the island in the bottom left. The final version of Outset Island doesn't show A_mori. What is equally interesting is that A_mori is different in the early versions of Outset Island showing that the forest also went through at least one revision. The right side of the 2001 version of the island is missing Mesa's house that was added in later versions. One minor difference between the 2001 version of the island and the E3 version is that the main dock of the island appears to be attached to what would be Link's house in the final version. There is also a bit of land south to the entrance of forest in the 2001 version of the island that isn't present in later versions. The last difference is that the final version of the island carves out some of the island to the west for land and placed the entrance to the Savage Labyrinth in that area.

Photos in Link's House
There are six photos visible in Link's House, but there are two extra that go unused. Of the eight photos shown here, the 2nd and 3rd photos with Link go unused.



Photos in Sturgeon's Room and Rose's House
Sturgeon's Room (both used and unused versions) and Rose's House have this texture found in their model file. Both places only have three photos frames hanging on a wall. Of all of the photo frames, both places combined only seem to use photos 1,2,6 and 9 starting from the top. The other photos (3,4,5,7,8 and 10) seem to go unused. Photos 3,5 and 7 are pictures of Windfall Island. Photo 4 could be a beach on just about any island and photo 7 could be a picture from just about any island as well. Photo 10 is a picture of the constellation Orion.

Early Clouds
In the room tincle and in the file "Stage.arc", some early cloud textures can be found. The room KATA_HB hosts the first three of these textures, as well.



Early Earth Sage Stone Texture
Three models for the Sage Stone exist- one for Makar, one for Medli and one that replaces the previous two for the "crumbling" effect. While not mapped to the model, the "crumbling" Sage Stone has early designs for the Earth Sage Stone in its textures. Interestingly, the space which contains the Wind Waker directions in the two used Sage Stones is filled with an Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask-esque musical score. What this could have been used for is unknown.

If the musical score was meant to be played with the Wind Waker, it is impossible since the Wind Waker only allows up to 6/8 time (6 inputs), and the score contains 8 notes. It doesn't really sound like any melody in the final game when "played", and even playing it with an ocarina (from the N64 games) reveals nothing.



Cyclos' Shrine
This is the texture for Cyclos' shrine on Dragon Roost Island. The blue arrow is not mapped to any part of the model, and thus goes unused. It's purpose is unknown.



Lava Layer
In the unused "Room 16" in M_NewD2, it is possible to see a different lava pit. In very old versions of The Wind Waker, the lava used a background layer.

Compared to the final version, it is static and doesn't give off any light of its own (so it looks very dark); thus it was most likely a placeholder. It is visible in the room, but only when not covered by the final version of the lava, some of which was added into the room. The easiest way is to look in the corner near the start, as shown in the screenshot.



Small red arrow on a texture in the Forsaken Fortress
On a textures of Forsaken Fortress, there is a little red arrow indicating a possible direction of contours.



Unused Eye Textures


This eye texture is found with Maggie's poor model. The name of the texture is "pm_eye.5.dds". Judging from the name relative to her other eye textures and the fact that it has a '5' scrawled on it suggests that it was either a frame of animation or a different eye pose altogether. Out of 5, Maggie's model only uses the first 4 textures. This unused texture looks the same as the 4th texture except that the 4th texture has a pupil in it.



Like Maggie, Mila's rich model also has an unused 5th eye frame under the name "km_eye.5.dds". The same information that applied for Maggie's eye above also applies to this eye.