Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time HD
I’ve always been a massive fan of the Legend of Zelda series, it was one of the first games I was introduced to a child. A new massive world opening in front of you with such a large area to go exploring. By 1997 the N64 had been released in the UK but people were still eagerly awaiting the return of Legend of Zelda to a new console and for the first time in 3D. On 11th December 1998 the game was a released and was the number one game to have that year.
At the time Nintendo set such a high standard for a game and it was bewildering how they managed to all of it into a 32MB cartridge. This is a game I’ve done to death and have been known to regularly revisit for another playthrough; But playing the game back on the N64 can be painful with the low resolution that the console outputs at in comparison to games of today’s standard. The N64’s resolution only outputted at 320×240, so when we’re living in a time when 1080p is the standard it makes you look for alternatives, this is where Emulation comes in to the picture.
UltraHLE was the first N64 emulator that I heard about. What was surprising that PC’s at the time we able to play the N64 games whilst the console itself was also on the market. UltraHLE didn’t last long and shut down quite quickly when Nintendo threatened legal action against them. A couple of years later a new and upcoming emulator was gaining quite a bit of notoriety, that emulator was Project 64
Ocarina of time using the HD Texture Pack
Project 64 was the emulator of choice at the time and allowed me to play the majority of N64 games at full speed with a resolution 3X higher than what the console could output. Around 2005 the emulation/modding community came together and worked on a project to improve all the in game texture in Ocarina of time to a higher resolution than the original. After number of years the community has released 3 different packs for the Legend of Zelda games on the N64 and is working on a fourth.
Below are the details of the 3 community packs available. Be aware you must have the correct Emulator (Project 64) and be using the Rice Video plugin. You can download the plugin installer here
High-Res Zelda Retexture Pack
Originally called Federelli’s High-Res Texture Pack, this project contains contributions from many avid fans and is still under construction. The aim is to replace every single graphic element with a faithful high-resolution equivalent. Federelli has since handed over project management to KMan, and it continues to develop.
- Download HD Texture Pack for Ocarina of Time
Forest Temple Boss
Djipi’s Cel Zelda
This graphics pack makes the game look as much like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker as possible. Because models cannot yet be replaced all changes are limited to textures only.
- Download Djipi’s Cel Zelda Texture Pack for Ocarina of time
- Download Djipi’s Cel Zelda Texture Pack for Majora’s Mask
Djipi’s Cel Texture pack attempts to make the game look more like Wind Waker
If you are getting stuck trying to get the Texture Packs working, have a read of this guide.
