A new fan-made mod for the N64 classic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is replacing the game's pre-rendered 2D backgrounds with fully realized 3D environments. The project, provisionally named "OoT unJPEG," is the work of modder Reonu, who has been developing it for over a year.
Reonu aims to maintain the original game's aesthetic while overhauling its environmental presentation. The mod is being developed for both the Zelda 64 Recompiled project and as a ROM hack intended to run on original Nintendo 64 hardware. Achieving compatibility with the original console has necessitated the creation of custom CPU culling code.
Ocarina of Time originally used 2D images for backgrounds to circumvent the Nintendo 64's hardware limitations. OoT unJPEG seeks to replace these static images with dynamic, fully rendered 3D spaces. While early comparisons show that placeholder textures are still a work in progress, Reonu has put out a call for texture artists to contribute to the project.
Beyond the visual upgrade, the mod also includes significant performance optimizations. Reonu has developed original code to enable the mod to run on original hardware. A notable example of this optimization is the integration of Ocarina of Time's market area into a single environment, thereby removing the original game's load screens. If this level of revision is applied to the full release, it could offer a substantially different way to experience the beloved title. Reonu has not yet provided a release date for OoT unJPEG, but interested players can follow his social media for updates.
Separately, Nintendo is officially developing a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Switch 2.