Project Restoration is a patch for Majora's Mask 3D that restores some mechanics from the original game and adds quality-of-life improvements and fixes to make it more enjoyable.
Features
Fixed Zora Link
Swim gracefully like a Zora without having to use magic
- Fast swim is the default way of swimming and no longer requires magic.
- Slow swim is still available. Press Up/Down on the D-Pad or ZL to toggle between fast swim and slow swim. You can also hold ZR to swim slowly.
Fixed Deku Link
Fixed water hopping
- Deku Link's acceleration reduction is reverted to fix the water hopping mechanic.
- As a side effect of the acceleration change, hopping was very slow in the unpatched game.
Fast Transform
Transform without having to equip items for a more streamlined gameplay
- Use the D-Pad to transform (Left: Zora, Up: Goron, Down: Deku, ZR+Up: Fierce Deity)
- This frees up as many as 4 buttons!
More Fluid Bomber's Notebook
Quicker popups and transitions
The Bomber's Notebook screen updates instantly instead of taking 5 seconds to pop up every time you get a quest update. It all adds up.
Optional Song of Time Saving
For the classic Majora's Mask experience
You can optionally save the game after playing the Song of Time. After loading a classic save, players will be greeted with the iconic Dawn of the First Day screen just like in the original game.
Improved Bosses
Tweaks
- Odolwa, Goht and Gyorg's giant eyeballs are gone. They didn't add much.
- Odolwa's AI and attacks are rebalanced to improve gameplay.
- A bug that caused Odolwa to be invulnerable to attacks and block excessively was fixed.
More fun with Twinmold
- This patch reduces the number of cycles to make it less repetitive.
- Red Twinmold no longer resets its hit counter every time it burrows back into the sand. This makes the boss battle much less confusing.
Restored Ice Arrows
- Ice arrows work everywhere in Great Bay Temple, not just in Gyorg's room. This gives the player more freedom to experiment with ice arrows. They also work in several other areas outside the temple, just like in the original game.
- Removes the sparkling water effects as they are an insult to the player's intelligence.
More Potent Inverted Song of Time
Slow time to 1/3 speed (just like the original)
In Majora's Mask 3D, the ISoT only slows time to 1/2 speed rather than 1/3 — likely an oversight. This patch fixes the regression, making some glitchless challenge runs possible again and giving the player more time in a three-day cycle.
Button Tweaks for Controller Players
Additional, optional bindings to make the game easier to play on a controller
- Switch arrows: ZL
- Ocarina of Time: ZR+A or D-Pad Right
- Pictograph Box: ZL
- I item: ZR+X
- II item: ZR+Y
- Items can be assigned to I and II too.
- Items: SELECT
- Bomber's Notebook: START
- Gears: ZR+START
- Map: ZR+SELECT
- Switch between the instrument screen and the song list: START/SELECT
More improvements
Streamlined gameplay
- Link no longer plays the Elegy of Emptiness again after it's been played once. This makes Stone Tower less tedious.
- The Song of Soaring is only repeated once during a play session for similar reasons.
- The speed of Stone Tower blocks has been adjusted for a more pleasant climbing experience.
- Free camera mode can be used more often, notably when targeting, talking or playing the ocarina.
Show me more changes
Less handholding
- The moving platforms in Deku Palace and Woodfall Temple now actually always move.
- Captain Keeta now walks as fast as in the original game, which restores the challenge of the chasing mini-game.
- Link can now leave the Swordman's School during training if necessary to avoid wasting time.
- The Bombers will no longer distract the player from a particular cutscene just to ensure you get their hints.
- The new Sheikah hint stone will also no longer distract the player during an important cutscene in the Clock Tower.
For the classic experience
- Owl statues can be activated by striking them with a sword.
- It is possible to control Goron Link rolling just like in the Nintendo 64 version: hold A and move to roll, release A to stop. The classic control scheme co-exists with the new one.
Bug fixes
- Fixes a game bug that caused the "heart container get" sound not to play after getting four heart pieces.
- Fixes a game bug that prevented the player from leaving free camera mode by targeting when Zora swimming or Goron rolling.
- Fixes a possible softlock during the Twinmold boss intro.
- Fixes a possible softlock when fighting Gyorg during phase 1.
- Fixes 2 other possible softlocks when fighting Gyorg during phase 2.
Download Project Restoration 1.5.9
Project Restoration works with a real 3DS or Citra. It is compatible with all versions of the game (except the Korean release) and with existing saves.
To set up the patch, download it then open the .7z file with a tool like 7-Zip. Double-click on the folder that matches your game version to open it, but do not extract it yet.
v110if you have MM3D 1.1 (game card with 1.1 preinstalled)v100for MM3D 1.0 (non-updated eShop or non-updated 1.0 gamecard)v100for MM3D 1.1 (updated eShop or updated 1.0 gamecard). Tryv101only if v100 doesn't work.- The Korean version of the game is not supported. You will need to play on another version.
For 3DS users
This guide assumes that you have a homebrewed 3DS with Luma3DS. If this is not the case, follow this guide for help.
Make sure that you have Luma3DS v10.1 or newer. You can download the latest Luma3DS here.
- Open the
3dsfolder in the 7-Zip archive. - Create the /luma/titles/
TITLE_ID/ directory on your SD card (if it doesn't already exist). ReplaceTITLE_IDwith:- For the European release: 0004000000125600
- For the American release: 0004000000125500
- For the Japanese release: 00040000000D6E00
- Copy
code.bpsandexheader.binto that directory. - Enable game patching in Luma's menu.
For Citra users
This guide assumes that you know how to use Citra. If this is not the case, refer to the official website for help.
- Open the
citrafolder in the 7-Zip archive. - Right click on the game in the game list and select Open Mods Location.
- Copy
code.bpsandexheader.binto that directory.
Playing at high resolutions? You might want to check out the HD HUD mod.
That's it!
- If everything was set up correctly, a sound effect will be played right before the title screen, before the spinning mask appears. You can also tell if the patch was applied by checking whether START opens the Bomber's Notebook (if you have it) and SELECT opens the Items menu.
- In order to use the new ZL/ZR buttons, the Circle Pad Pro must be enabled in MM3D's options, even if you are playing on a New 3DS.
- If you want faster aiming, copy
code_faster_aim.bpsinstead of copyingcode.bpsand rename the patch tocode.bps. - Patches are provided for all versions of the game. However, all versions other than v1.0 (
v100) will be temporarily downgraded to ensure everything works fine.
Troubleshooting
My 3DS crashes
Delete any file you copied while following this guide and follow the instructions carefully again.
In particular, make sure that you have renamed exheader_legacy.bin to exheader.bin.
If you are absolutely sure you have followed the instructions correctly, try all three patch variants (v100/v101/v110) until one of them works.
Citra crashes
Delete any file you copied while following this guide and follow the instructions carefully again.
If you are absolutely sure you have followed the instructions correctly, try all three patch variants (v100/v101/v110) until one of them works.
You may also need to set the console region in Citra's settings manually.
The patch isn't applied
Make sure that you put the patch files (code.bps and exheader.bin) into the right folder. Ensure that you are using the correct title ID for your game.
If you are playing on a 3DS console, check whether game patching is enabled.
[Citra] After I press ZR, the button stays pressed permanently
That is caused by an incorrect controller mapping in Citra. It is not a Project Restoration issue. When mapping the controller, hold the trigger on your controller before attempting to map the button in Citra.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is such a patch available for Ocarina of Time 3D?
As of October 2021, no. I have neither the time nor the interest to work on a QoL patch for OoT3D — not that OoT3D really needs to be patched anyway.
Hero mode?
Currently, I have no time to work on hero mode either. And hero mode is somewhat out of the scope of this project anyway.
Restored lighting? The bright colours ruin the atmosphere!
Project Restoration attempts to fix what regressed in MM3D by restoring original mechanics and adding QoL improvements. I do not consider the graphical changes a regression. Even colourful games can be dark, and I'd argue that in Majora's Mask the unique atmosphere mostly comes from the stunning storytelling and narrative.
How do I update Project Restoration?
Simply follow the setup instructions again.
For 3DS console users, you do not need to set up Luma3DS from scratch again.
How was this made?
By reverse engineering the game to understand how it works (at least partially). No, I don't work at Grezzo! For more details, you're encouraged to look at the source code.
Contributing
Project Restoration is an open-source project. For more information about the project, including development details and rationale for some of the changes, refer to the GitHub repository. Contributions are welcome!