ZVD.DMG

This is a sub-page of Development:The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Game Boy).

Removed Graphical Data#

This needs some investigation.
Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.
Specifically: Resurrect the commented-out graphics in here, if possible. There are a lot.

While the Game Boy's screen resolution is 160x144 pixels(20x18 tiles), the actual map size that gets loaded is 256x256 pixels(32x32 tiles) so some of these actually get drawn beyond the normal screen size.

TITLBG

Assembled	Part 1	Part 2

- There appear to be two versions of this. One is commented out, but both are unused. The top one is an older title screen seen in an SCR file, and the commented out part contains text and what appears to be a sketch of Mario's face? It's assumed that they were meant to go together.
- シバハラの伝説 / しばはらのでんせつ: Shibahara no Densetsu
- もうひとつハイルロ: Another Hyrule
  - Shibahara is the nickname of programmer Takamitsu Kuzuhara.
  - "Another Hyrule" is a reference to Marvelous: Mou Hitotsu no Takarajima (Marvelous: Another Treasure Island), which was in the early stages of development at this time.
WINDBG2

Screen	Full

- This one says it's a test. May be used.
GMAPCLB
- Commented out, but it is just a blank white screen so no need for an image.
WINDBG

Screen	Full

- Partially commented out. There's a large square of the top half of the Angler Key(depends on VRAM) that's in the place of the dungeon minimaps, There's also 2 icons where the "L-X" would go depending on what dungeon you're in. Maybe these were put there as a reference on where to put the dungeon minimaps?
NCLERBG

Screen	Full

- The bottom part is commented out.
NSLCTBG

- The bottom part is commented out.
PSLCTBG

- The bottom part is commented out.
TESTBG

- Commented out.
GMAPBG

- Partially commented out. The bottom part is left over from an older map design.
ENDBGD
- Partially commented out.
ENDBGC
- Partially commented out.
ENDBGB2
- Partially commented out.
EWAKUBG

Screen	Full

- Commented out.
EWAKUBG2

Screen	Full

- Commented out.

Hidden Message#

Following the point where the end of the file is defined is some unreferenced data. It starts by defining a table of hiragana characters, as well as the punctuation marks ー, ・, and a space. Following the table is a label called ODEMOBG, which may be short for "Opening Demo Background", and TITLBG, which is short for Title Background. ODEMOBG contains a hidden message that may have scrolled across the screen during the opening sequence.

ODEMOBG
    DB  $98,$64,$08
    DB  OKA,OTU,OTE,OSP,OOO,OOO,OSA,OKA,ONO
;
    DB  $98,$A4,$0B
    DB  OT0,OAA,ORU,OKO,OUU,OKO,OUU,ONO,OKI,OOY,OUU,OSI
;
    DB  $98,$CB,$00
    DB                  OTN
    DB  $98,$E4,$0B
    DB  OWO,OSI,OTE,OII,OTA,OSP,OSI,OHA,OHA,ORA,OSP,OT0
;
    DB  $99,$04,$08
    DB  OSP,OSP,OTN,OSP,OTN,OSP,OTN,OSP,OSP
    DB  $99,$24,$08
    DB  OII,OUU,OSI,ONN,OHU,OTU,OKA,OII,OTA
;
    DB  $99,$64,$0C
    DB  OSO,OSI,OTE,OMA,OTA,OSP,OT0,OAA,ORU,OKA,OII,OSI,OAY
;
    DB  $99,$88,$00
    DB          OTN
    DB  $99,$A4,$0A
    DB  ONI,OMO,OSP,OSI,OHA,OHA,ORA,OSP,OT0,OII,OUU
;
    DB  $99,$C4,$06
    DB  OTN,OSP,OTN,OSP,OTN,OSP,OSP
    DB  $99,$E4,$06
    DB  OSI,ONN,OHU,OTU,OKA,OII,ORU
;
    DB  $9A,$0A,$00
    DB                          OTN
    DB  $9A,$24,$09
    DB  OKO,ONO,OHU,OTA,ORI,OHA,OT0,OUU,OII,OTU
    DB  $9A,$44,$02
    DB  OTN,OSP,OTN
    DB  $9A,$64,$0A
    DB  OSI,ONN,OHU,OTU,OT0,OII,OWA,ORE,OTE,OII,ORU
;
;
;
;
;
;
;
;
    DB  $9A,$CA,$00
    DB              OTN
    DB  $9A,$E4,$0A
    DB  OSI,OKA,OSI,OSP,OKO,ONO,OKE,OB_,OMU,OT0,OHA
;
    DB  $9B,$04,$09
    DB  ONA,ONN,ONO,OKA,ONN,OKE,OII,OMO,ONA,OII
;
    DB  00

Using the hiragana table to decipher the above results in the following:

Original Text

Enhanced Text

Translation

かって　おおさかの

とあるこうこうのきょうし

をしていた　しばはら　と

いうじんぶつがいた

そしてまた　とあるかいしゃ

にも　しばはら　という

じんぶつがいる

このふたりはどういつ

じんぶつといわれている

しかし　このげーむとは

なんのかんけいもない

かって　大阪の

とある高校の教師

をしていた　柴原　と

いう人物がいた

そしてまた　とある会社

にも　柴原　という
　
人物がいる

この二人は同一

人物と言われている

しかし　このゲームとは

何の関係もない

Once, there was a person

named Shibahara who

worked as a teacher at a

certain high school in Osaka.

There was also another

person named Shibahara
　
at a certain company.

It is said that these two

were one and the same.

But that has nothing to do

with this game.

Shibahara is a nickname for programmer Takamitsu Kuzuhara, who left many more self-referential in-jokes in the source code and the game itself.

(Source: Translation - GlitterBerri)