Zelda: Ocarina of Time Mod Remakes the N64 Classic in True 3D
Nintendo may be developing an official remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but a modder known as Reonu is separately reworking the Nintendo 64 classic's visuals, replacing its pre-rendered 2D background images with fully realised 3D environments. The mod, provisionally named "OoT unJPEG," has reportedly been in development for over a year and aims to preserve the original game's visual style rather than mimic the later 3DS remaster.
The project will be released both for the Zelda 64 Recompiled initiative and as a ROM hack playable on original N64 hardware, the latter requiring Reonu to write custom CPU culling code to maintain performance. A teaser video demonstrates the changes, including the market area being merged into a single seamless space to eliminate loading screens, though some original 2D backdrops still look sharper than the mod's current placeholder textures, for which Reonu is seeking help from texture artists. No release date has been announced, and fans have been directed to Reonu's social media for updates.
- Modder Reonu is converting Ocarina of Time's 2D backgrounds into full 3D
- Mod, "OoT unJPEG," works on real N64 hardware and Recompiled version
- No release date yet; separate official Switch 2 remake also in development