The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: Zelda3 Parallel Worlds

A complete The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past hack.

Everything is brand new. Dungeons, overworlds, etc. It even has new music!

This hack does a fantastic job of letting you re-live the old classic while adding a new degree of difficulty that challenges even the elite!

The 10-year anniversary update by qwertymodo has brought a bunch of new and exciting features that help to re-balance much of the game, as well as bring a fresh new gameplay experience. Check the README for more information!



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The Legend of
Zelda Parallel Worlds v1.23


game developed and published by Nintendo
for the Super NES, ?1991-1992

hack made by Euclid, SePH (Orochimaru) and qwertymodo
f_force1[at]hotmail[dot]com
tac_seph[at]hotmail[dot]com
qwertymodo[at]qwertymodo[dot]com
version 1.00 - December 31st, 2006
version 1.10 - May 19th, 2007
version 1.20 - December 31st, 2016
version 1.23 - March 27th 2017



readme is best viewed with
Courier New 10 pt font with word wrap turned off
/\
/__\=========================================================================
/\ /\ T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
/__\/__\=======================================================================

I. Game Basics
1. Introduction
2. Patching the game
3. Story (Prelude)
4. Features

II. Brief Walkthrough
1. Hyrule Field & Caves system
2. Sneaking into the guardhouse
3. The guardhouse escape
4. The mysterious Parallel Worlds...

III. Frequently Asked Questions

IV. The Anniversary Release
1. Changes in version 1.2
2. Setting up the MSU-1 audio

V. Final Words
1. Version History
2. Special thanks and credits

/\
/__\=========================================================================
/\ /\ I. Game Basics
/__\/__\=======================================================================

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I-1. Introduction
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Are you ready for a brand new adventure?
* Are you ready to play a whole new zelda 3 game, with completely new
dungeons and overworlds?
* Are you ready to find the secrets of the Parallel Worlds?

Parallel Worlds is a fully hacked version of Zelda 3 (aka A Link to the Past).
A majority of the game has been changed. There may be a few rooms which can be
said to be similar to some from the original game.

General changes involve:

* Brand new Overworlds, I promise you won't find an area which is unchanged!
* Brand new Dungeons, all dungeons are completely different from the original!
* New house indoors and caves, some of these you may find similar to the
original game.
* New Graphics, a lot of the graphics have been changed.
* New Screen layout, similar to Ocarina of Time yet not exactly the same.
* Some new music, the original game had great music, these are not to be
changed :)
* New Story, while some maybe similar to the original game, but
it's intentional.
* A lot of other changes, and surprises!

This is a result of 4 years (maybe 5) of "behind the scenes" hard work, lots
of assembly hacks and fixes etc. This game was known as Tower of the Triforce
which some people may remember, when I released a demo from that game a few
years ago. When SePH joined the team a majority of the things from that hack
was taken over into this hack, so spiritually it's still the Tower of the
Triforce (to me that is).

This game is difficult. Believe me when I say it is. You'll need to have every
trick from the original game memorized plus more to beat this.

Puzzles are everywhere in this game. Some dungeons are more puzzle oriented,
while some dungeons are more fighting oriented. I try to keep a balance
between the two in some dungeons.

While there isn't much enemy changes, there are a few, which I'll let the
player find out by themselves.

There is tons of secrets in this game... some are original while some are just
brought over from other zelda games.

That's it for a brief introduction... we hope you enjoy playing this game!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I-2. Patching the game
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First things first, to play Zelda Parallel Worlds you will need:

1. The included patch
2. A patching program such as beat or Floating IPS
3. A copy of Zelda A Link To The Past (U) WITHOUT A HEADER
(Don't bother asking for the rom!)
4. Other useful Information:
CRC32: 7A569B88 (only if you hard patch the rom)
Patched Size: 1.5MB (1,572,864 bytes)

You can find a guide on how to use LIPS at romhacking[dot]net

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I-3. Story (Prelude)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please note:
**This game's story is not based on any official Zelda games**


You are a treasure hunter from another land. You moved here with your friend,
in order to find treasure of course!

A lot of things started to happen not long after you moved here.

Seven people has "appeared out of nowhere" and beings questioning about the
Parallel Tower and the inhabitants of Kakariko Village. The Parallel Tower was
situated in the Sky Islands northeast of the village. The legend behind the
Parallel Tower was long lost, and only the elders knew the legend.

Word begin to spread out about the Parallel Tower, and people started to learn
about the legend again. The legend says it was a byproduct of a war long ago
and a power, known as the Triforce, existed at the top of it. It is said that
nobody knows about the clues as to how to get to the top of the Tower. The
seven people are said to know about these "clues" to the Tower.

The king was notified of these seven people and he invited them to the castle
to find out what they wanted with the tower. Just the night before the seven
people are to have an audience with the king, the king's assistant, Draegor,
eliminates the king and claims the throne by default.

The seven people walked right into an obvious trap. Draegor, who people believe
is a power hungry person, caught all 7 people and forces them to tell him what
they know about the Tower.

When the people learnt of the king's fate, a rebel force is gathered in secret
to plot against Draegor. The rebel force learnt that 2 out of 7 people which
Draegor caught are still alive and imprisoned in the guardhouse. They quickly
rallied anyone who may be interested in the Tower and the locals to help these
last 2 people.

You and your friend heard about this plan and are willing help the rebels
against Draegor.

The night of the operation begins the story...


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I-4. Features
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For detailed changes and screenshots of the game hud and various other things,
I suggest you refer to the html version of this readme.


/\
/__\=========================================================================
/\ /\ II. Brief Walkthrough *SPOILERS AHEAD!*
/__\/__\=======================================================================

This part of the readme contains information on how to get past the
introduction sequence. Since it can be quite hard, especially for beginners,
we decided to include a brief walkthrough of it in the readme. Thus if you
wouldn't like to be spoiled, you might want to skip this part of the reading.

**The names of the areas/places are in the brackets.**

Of course, if you have any more questions or comments you can always leave a
message in the thread or an email at: tac_seph[at]hotmail[dot]com

Anyways, enjoy!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II-1. Hyrule Field & Caves system
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[House Interior]

Once you're told of the beginning interlude, head outside.

[Your House]

From here on, you could go to the beach in the west but the area is pretty
much closed down for now, so instead, head north.

[Village Entrance]

Guards are blocking the way to the right path (which leads to the Misty woods).
So that leaves you no choice but to keep going north.

[Kakariko Village]

Ah! Looks like there's guards everywhere, sounds like you can't wander around
too much either. There's a large cave surrounded by shallow water. Notice it's
emplacement for now but don't enter it just yet (It's dark inside). Enter the
right entrance of the twin house to get some bombs inside the pots. You might
want to refill as needed. Eventually you'll be able to buy them too. Back in
the village, head to the east area.

[Village Cemetery]

Still more guards blocking places and sentries around, you find yourself very
close to the church. Follow the path to the east until you see two paths. One
heading northeast and the other southeast. Take the north one while beeing
cautious of the guard that can attack you here.

[Church path]

There's a cave south of here, but don't jump there for now, instead follow the
brown path until you find tall grass. Keep going north.

[Village Church]

Cross the north bridge and atop the stairs you'll find the church where
villagers gather to pray at times. Enter it. Inside, examine the top of the
right stairs. You'll find an heart container inside a chest!

Now go back outside, then head into that cave in the church path which I
mentioned earlier.

[Hyrulian Cave System]

When you enter the cave you'll notice a fake shooter there. Nothing impressive.
Proceed to the next room... here, quickly make your way to the left before
the Armos knight wakes up. In the next room, make haste to the south room
before the shooter starts shooting at you. Head south in the next big room,
until you come across some pots. Take one of them and kill the bat in your way,
take another one and head west *Don't jump below just yet* and kill the other
bat next to the chest. Now you may claim it's content! You'll get the lamp!
You can now jump down to the south and exit.

Now it's time to head for the guardhouse. Well hidden near the castle, it's
where most of the guards gather during patrol duties and also where the main
prison lies.

Remember that large cave I introduced in Kakariko Village? Now that you've got
something to light your way, it's time to go there again!

[Secret Waterway]

Inside go to the left, picking up those valuable blue rupees on your way and
then head north. In the next room you'll see a hole, jump in it to find
yourself on the bottom floor. First, light the torch so that you see something,
then head east. Now there's an enemy which blocks your way south. If you think
you can avoid it, then go for it, otherwise take one of the pots in the north
part of this room to quickly get rid of it. Then proceed to the south exit.

[Lupo Intersection]

Don't waste your time here, avoid the monsters and enter the west cave
surrounded by the torches you see.

[Ancient Tunnels]

Here lies the ancient catacombs tunnels used by the village ancestors as a
way to quickly move between places. Now it's mostly stuffed up by traps and
holes left by the time.

**You might want to save your progress to this point if you don't want to restart
your game from the start. You get your sword very late in the guardhouse and
hence if you don't have it and die you'll start again in your house (That can be
annoying for some people). You're warned!**

Inside, take the right door. By being cautious of the shooter, pickup the blue
rupees then proceed north. Looks like someone was here before you, the content
of the chests were all stolen already. Head right. In the next room lies the
most challenging part of the intro, getting around the pits of doom labyrinth
that is. The problem lies with the fact that there will have plenty of shooters
in your way, firing at random, so it's a pretty tedious part at first but once
you know a way, it's pretty easy actually. When you're done, take the exit and
prepare to claim your first sword and shield!

**Again, for beginners, using savestates here is the key to get through it.**

[Castle Guardhouse]

Move south carefully, and make haste to the doorway of the guardhouse before
the sentry guard catches you. Congratulations you've made it alive to the
guardhouse. Now comes the infiltration part!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II-2. Sneaking into the guardhouse
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once you've made step into the guardhouse, three paths opens for you to go.
One needs a key and the other you need to activate a switch. For now head west.
Follow the path through the rooms until you descend stairs. You'll find
yourself in the wine cellar. There's a small key and a big door. Take the small
key and head back to the entrance. Now, active the switch near the north door
and then head east. Continue walking through the doors till you end up in a
room full of bookcases. Activate the switch on the floor and go to the next
room. Bottom of the stairs, there's four pots and a big chest. Since you don't
have the big chest key, let's just pick up the pots to find a key. You may now
go back to the entrance.

Now that you've got two keys, use one of them to open the north door and again
follow that path until you descend the stairs. When you arrive at B1 you'll
know that the next few rooms of the guardhouse will have plenty of locked
doors and switches on the floor. Just follow the path you see and you'll
eventually find stairs which leads to B2 in the interrogation room where is
held your friend you see in the beginning. Head to the west room and down the
stairs. You'll end up in the prison upper floor. Go west, walk past the
dangerous soldiers there and down the stairs again. The prison lower floor is
just ahead. Now move to the room just above you, and then quickly move the
middleand head south, now walk past the guard there and finally go up again.
Head east. Here lies the prison warden's room. The soldier here has one of
the keys to get to your friend but you don't have anything to fight him yet,
so just move to the next room for now.

For the next two rooms, just head south, walking past your enemies then you'll
encounter a blue soldier in front of you. Quickly head east before he catches
you. You walk past an heart pie but you need the hookshot to get there, so
forget it for now. Just go to the next room. You'll get locked in and will
have to dodge the floor tiles. When it's opened, head north and use your key
on the remaining locked door. Inside you'll find the big key in a chest
surrounded by spikes. Now that you have that key you can go back all the way
up to the wine cellar near the entrance.

Once you're there, head for the locked door. Once it's opened, in the next
room you'll see lots of soldiers, head right and somewhere south of the bar,
there's a switch for the locked door you'll see. Open it and get the key
inside. You may now return to the interrogation floor, somewhere on that floor
you can use your big key in a cell. Once it's done, in the next room you
should see a locked door. Use your small key and finally the other side
you'll get your sword and shield! Now you're missing one more key. Head to
the prison warden's room and kill the soldier there. You'll find a key on
his corpse.

It's time to go save Zelda. Go to the prison upper floor in the room with the
stairs to go up. Now head into the room to the right (which you haven't go to
yet). Kill everyone in the room to open the locked door. In the next room,
open the door with your remaining key and inside lies Zelda. Heard her short
story then finally head to the wine cellar once again. Inside, move the top
of the room hidden passage. This concludes the walkthrough for the
guardhouse! Now it's time to escape through the sewers...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II-3. The guardhouse escape
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Cellar Passage]

To the right of the door there's a chest but since it requires the big chest
key, which you don't have you'll have to take the left path. Move along the
doors until you descend stairs.

[Guardhouse Sewers]

Here, there's no straight path to chose, but remember that the exit is
somewhere east from where you enter. Once you've it through the maze you'll
end up in a small room full of holes, switches and rats. The correct switch
to open the north door is the one between the two small holes near the
entrance. Move the north room once you've walked on the switch. In the next
small room there's a labyrinth. Find the way out and head up the stairs.

[Church passage]

Head south and follow the pretty straight forward path which lies before you.
When you encounter stairs, take them to find yourself near a maze of pegs.
Follow where it goes and eventually you'll have the choice of either going up
the stairs or hitting a peg switch. Do the later, there's no point going up
just yet. Follow the newly formed ways you can go to and you'll eventually
see the stairs to go below. Take them and just north of them lies another set
of stairs. Head into the maze and north of there lies stairs to move to the
church's back room. On the floor above, you should see a chest. Take it, it
contains the big chest key of this level.

Now you've got to go back to the cellar passage and get the chest which you've
previously missed on. Once you arrive, open it to get the blue boomerang. Now
that you have it you may return to the church passage. Make sure the blue pegs
are on and the red ones are off. Make it all the way up to the church back
room using the other set of stairs which you haven't used yet. Now just move
below and using your boomerang hit the peg switch while moving right.
Eventually you'll be able to go in the next room just below. Hit the left
switch and you'll make it into the church!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II-4. The mysterious Parallel Worlds...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hear what Zelda and the old wise men have to say and you can now go explore the
rest of this world and its secrets!


/\
/__\=========================================================================
/\ /\ III. Frequently Asked Questions
/__\/__\=======================================================================

This section will expand as questions keep coming.

Q: I have found the big key, but the big chest in the guardhouse doesn't open!
A: If you haven't noticed yet, this game doesn't use either maps or compass in
the dungeons. Instead, we used our creative talents to make two new distinctive
items for you to get. The big chest key and the big door key! That means if you
want that chest to open, you need to find the proper key.

Q: What's the purpose of the mysterious tablets?
A: It is a secret to everybody.

Q: I'm lost, I don't know where to go next!
A: Look around, most of the story was changed and so is the monologue so talk
to all the people you encounter. There are enough clues hidden everywhere for
you to finish this game.

Go to http://zeldaparallelworlds.googlepages.com/ for the most updated FAQ.

There is a full map and walkthrough (WIP) available at zelda.qwertymodo.com.

There's also a Parallel Worlds FAQ by Nephalim and Tompa around the internets.

/\
/__\=========================================================================
/\ /\ IV. The Anniversary Release
/__\/__\=======================================================================

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV-1. Changes in version 1.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On December 31st, the 10th anniversary of the original v1.00 release, a new
update was released addressing many existing issues with the game, as well as
adding several new features. These changes are the result of several years
worth of new code written by several different authors, which was compiled
together by qwertymodo, along with several other minor changes and fixes.
Unlike the Parallel Remodel hack by PuzzleDude, the dungeon layouts were
intentionally left unchanged (other than a few minor door adjustments).
However, the new gameplay mechanics introduced serve to address many
long-standing issues. The list of changes is rather extensive.

===New Features===
- MSU-1 Audio
- Stun enemies by hitting them without a sword (huge help in the Guardhouse)
- Able to change directions while dashing with the pegasus boots
- Able to break pots with the sword
- Able to collect items with the sword
- Death counter doesn't increment when saving and quitting normally
- Able to cancel the flute transport by pressing B at the destination map screen
- The shovel has been added to fill the last inventory slot

===Improvements===
- The game has been converted to FastROM, to minimize slowdown in several areas
- Loading your game starts you with full health, not half
- It is now possible to save at any time, even before collecting the sword
- It is now possible to backtrack from the Parallel Tower big chest key
- Armor upgrades now occur in the correct order, regardless of which you get first
- The in-game clock is now hidden until exiting the church for the first time
- Bombs no longer hurt you on knockback, making bomb jump rooms easier
- The soldier's speed increase has been adjusted slightly
- The Armos Knights in the first dungeon have been made easier

===Bug Fixes===
- Able to collect both blue and red boomerang (no longer have to choose)
- Able to collect second mushroom even with magic powder in inventory
- Fixed several broken boss room doors
- Mothula no longer stops firing after a few shots
- Fixed the glitch with the Impa's Ways boss crystal not falling sometimes
- Fixed several outdoor staircases (minor graphical glitch/incorrect Y position)
- Fixed a layering bug on several indor staircases
- Fixed the sprite palette bug when turned into a bunny in the Parallel Tower
- Minor sprite recoloring (Link's face, Hylian Shield, Spiritual Stones)
- The graphical glitch on the title screen has been fixed
- Fixed the curtain door graphics at the top of the Parallel Tower
- Fixed the unreachable bat in the church basement
- Disable the Book of Mudora in all caves to avoid glitching on incorrect exit
- Various typo fixes and other text adjustments

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV-2. Setting up the MSU-1 audio
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SD2SNES/bsnes/Snes9x:
1) Create a folder to hold the game files and place the patched ROM inside
2) Extract the .pcm files from the MSU-1 audio pack into the same folder
3) Rename the .pcm files to match the ROM file, e.g.:
ParallelWorlds.sfc
ParallelWorlds-1.pcm
ParallelWorlds-2.pcm
etc.
4) Rename the .msu file from the audio pack to match as well, e.g.:
ParallelWorlds.msu
5) (bsnes only) Copy the manifest.xml to the game folder and rename to match

higan:
1) Open the higan library and select Import ROM Files
2) Select the patched ROM file
3) Open Settings>Configuration>Advanced and locate the Game Library
4) Browse to the Game Library location and open the Super Famicom folder
5) Open the folder containing the ROM you just imported
5a) You can rename the game folder, but THE FOLDER NAME MUST END IN .sfc
6) Copy the .pcm and .msu files from the MSU-1 audio pack into the game folder

Not using a manifest file:
7) Rename the .pcm files to track-1.pcm, track-2.pcm, etc
8) Rename the .msu file to msu1.rom

Using a manifest file:
7) Copy the manifest.bml from the audio pack into the game folder
8) Open manifest.bml in a text editor to see the expected file names
9) Rename the files accordingly (program.rom, *.pcm, zpw.msu)
10) In higan, under Settings>Configuration>Advanced, uncheck Ignore Manifests

/\
/__\=========================================================================
/\ /\ V. Final Words
/__\/__\=======================================================================

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
V-1. Version History
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

version 1.21 - January 7th, 2017:
- Minor bugfix for a game-breaking door in Darunia's Caverns

version 1.20 - December 31st, 2016:
- MSU-1 audio
- New gameplay mechanics
- Various improvements, bugfixes, and dialog improvements

version 1.10 - May 19th, 2007:
- Dialog improvements
- moved infinite-conversion-lock town NPC
- changed a puzzle combination

version 1.00 - December 31st, 2006: Initial release

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
V-2. Special thanks and credits
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This hack would not be what it is without contributions from the following:

Richyawyingtmv New music

Daisuke Link's sprite, Mothula and various (Main spriter)
.TakaM Wooden house, beach, palm trees shadows and various
GanonSpriteR Draegor, Title screen master sword
aab Snowland, lavaland miscellaneous
NoeL Alternate mountain tiles
Calvein Grass pattern
Geckkko Barn tiles
Bearer Wooden house tiles
Revan Some ship tiles
Hero Of Fire Cemetery Gate
Dark Link Shields
Retro Triforce statues

Reshaper256 SpritePalettesByRooms asm patch
JaSp For his day/night asm patch
d4s For finding how to change the hardcoded grass palette

NEONswift Area names idea, finding how to move some hardcoded areas
Omega45889 For finding Draegor's name, various
MathOnNapkins Help and his documents
KTurbo Beta testing and suggestions
Chickenlump Help using YY-CHR, various data
GameMakr24 Inspiration
Ghillie Ideas and suggestions
Duke Serkol Ideas and suggestions
Sephiroth3 His editor Hyrule Magic
FuSoYa His tool zcompress
Yy His tile editor YY-CHR
Ryusui His utility TheCheat
Danaelo Readme FAQ layout
AstroBlue Readme Triforce headers
You, the player For waiting so long to play a full Z3 hack
and of course, playing this game!

The5thHerring Dialog Revision 1.1
Dr Floppy 1.1 Script Insertion and testing

If you have any further questions or would like to point out a mistake, feel
free to send me an email at tac_seph[at]hotmail[dot]com. Thanks for reading.

Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past, The (NA) (1.0).sfc
CRC32: 777AAC2F
MD5: 608C22B8FF930C62DC2DE54BCD6EBA72
SHA-1: 6D4F10A8B10E10DBE624CB23CF03B88BB8252973
SHA-256: 66871D66BE19AD2C34C927D6B14CD8EB6FC3181965B6E517CB361F7316009CFB