How simple texture compression can start a 20-year-long rumour
How simple texture compression can start a 20-year-long rumour
by itsgallus
37 Comments
[deleted]
/r/Nintendo really feeling Mario 64 lately.
grkirchhoff
So what kind of compression is that?
[deleted]
So… what does it say? Is it known? Eternal Star?
arrrek5
But the L will always be real
HeSaysSarcasticly
Whats the second line say?
Whats this look like in the Japanese version… I bet that’ll hold some clues.
noitemsfoxonlyFD
wait why would that refer to Luigi?
TyranusCannabis
I think it says “an eternal star, to hunger for” meaning the game devs put that there to make players think there was something secret but it really was like OP said, they just didn’t do texture compression and there light joke got turned into a 20 year fan-theory/conspiracy theory
falconfetus8
The rumor would have started regardless of the texture. The believers would have just found other justification.
Soupbowler64
Does it say the same thing in the DS remake?
tpw_rules
I wonder what the texture looks like in ROM. The N64 does bilinear filtering in hardware, so presumably the actual texture is readable but ugly.
mucbro
Wow this is heavy. But it raises the question, why does that plaque in Dodongo’s Cavern say Eternal Star? Still just a texture reuse, I assume? Or is it another bad compression and says something different entirely?
jado1stk
B-b-but…a redditor posted a letter from Nintendo that proved the message was indeed “L is Real”
MicMicO_o
Looking at the third part on the top, though, it looks very much like コード, which in Japanese means “code.” Maybe it’s a mix of languages? Always wondered what it said.
EagleDarkX
So this is the location of the 121st star?
Stan64
It looks more like Japanese, and that would make more sense
Thwerty
Di…Did you just enhance?
[deleted]
But… what does ‘Eternal Star’ mean…?
krispness
Looking at it I see A Gourmet Star Fit Hunger For
dont_be_that_guy_29
ENHANCE
[deleted]
What about the bottom letters?
Amazinc
Oh this must mean Luigi is in the game, right? /s
Scapetti
Giant dead Dodongo…
when it sees red,
a new way to go
will be open.
TheRealNokes
Could I get some context please?
CajunTurkey
Have the devs ever said anything about this?
Pieyou
Can someone explain this one to me? I played a ton of Mario 64 when I was a kid and heard of this but never really knew what it was about
LpSamuelm
Wow, I was wondering about this just the other day! I googled around, but I couldn’t find any conclusive evidence on what it actually originally said. This looks pretty plausible, though.
seamachine
OP, wasn’t this same plate reused in another game? Zelda, I think.
doubledongbot
kek
dansalvato
In case anyone wants to check it out themselves, here’s the original raw texture (32×32): http://i.imgur.com/PaORtVa.png
/u/itsgallus in case you want to mess around with it as well.
NewfieRedditor
Why would it even be in English? If it’s basically illegible why would they put anything possibly legible In the English version of the game instead of just leaving it?
TheOddScreen
Wow
DanJZ0404
I think that it’s Japanese text, judging from the first character looking suspiciously like kanji (borrowed Han Chinese characters)
Honestly, you could probably send Miyamoto a letter asking him what it says and he’d likely respond with the actual answer.
[deleted]
Eternal Star? Never heard that one before. I thought it was “L is Real 2401”. L being in reference to Luigi
bgorch01
Wouldn’t it be something else in japanese instead? It just seems to trivial for it to be in english by default or translated to english.
HorrorThe
Question: Why can’t we just ask the developers what it says? Also, wouldn’t a texture be written in Japanese as it couldn’t be as simply replaced by the localisation team like the standard text boxes?
37 Comments
/r/Nintendo really feeling Mario 64 lately.
So what kind of compression is that?
So… what does it say? Is it known? Eternal Star?
But the L will always be real
Whats the second line say?
Whats this look like in the Japanese version… I bet that’ll hold some clues.
wait why would that refer to Luigi?
I think it says “an eternal star, to hunger for” meaning the game devs put that there to make players think there was something secret but it really was like OP said, they just didn’t do texture compression and there light joke got turned into a 20 year fan-theory/conspiracy theory
The rumor would have started regardless of the texture. The believers would have just found other justification.
Does it say the same thing in the DS remake?
I wonder what the texture looks like in ROM. The N64 does bilinear filtering in hardware, so presumably the actual texture is readable but ugly.
Wow this is heavy. But it raises the question, why does that plaque in Dodongo’s Cavern say Eternal Star? Still just a texture reuse, I assume? Or is it another bad compression and says something different entirely?
B-b-but…a redditor posted a letter from Nintendo that proved the message was indeed “L is Real”
Looking at the third part on the top, though, it looks very much like コード, which in Japanese means “code.” Maybe it’s a mix of languages? Always wondered what it said.
So this is the location of the 121st star?
It looks more like Japanese, and that would make more sense
Di…Did you just enhance?
But… what does ‘Eternal Star’ mean…?
Looking at it I see A Gourmet Star Fit Hunger For
ENHANCE
What about the bottom letters?
Oh this must mean Luigi is in the game, right? /s
Giant dead Dodongo…
when it sees red,
a new way to go
will be open.
Could I get some context please?
Have the devs ever said anything about this?
Can someone explain this one to me? I played a ton of Mario 64 when I was a kid and heard of this but never really knew what it was about
Wow, I was wondering about this just the other day! I googled around, but I couldn’t find any conclusive evidence on what it actually originally said. This looks pretty plausible, though.
OP, wasn’t this same plate reused in another game? Zelda, I think.
kek
In case anyone wants to check it out themselves, here’s the original raw texture (32×32): http://i.imgur.com/PaORtVa.png
/u/itsgallus in case you want to mess around with it as well.
Why would it even be in English? If it’s basically illegible why would they put anything possibly legible In the English version of the game instead of just leaving it?
Wow
I think that it’s Japanese text, judging from the first character looking suspiciously like kanji (borrowed Han Chinese characters)
Honestly, you could probably send Miyamoto a letter asking him what it says and he’d likely respond with the actual answer.
Eternal Star? Never heard that one before. I thought it was “L is Real 2401”. L being in reference to Luigi
Wouldn’t it be something else in japanese instead? It just seems to trivial for it to be in english by default or translated to english.
Question: Why can’t we just ask the developers what it says? Also, wouldn’t a texture be written in Japanese as it couldn’t be as simply replaced by the localisation team like the standard text boxes?
So English is an actual language in Ocarina of Time, at least known to Goron’s.
http://imgur.com/gallery/zZz8jy6
L IS REAL 2401