Players have been wanting a modern Ocarina of Time remastered game for some time, but it didn’t look like Nintendo had anything planned. This is why the community came together and reverse-engineered a native PC port. The port offers many new features, cheats, and visual improvements that can make any Zelda fan happy. Nintendo has finally announced an Ocarina of Time remake, but the Ship of Harkinian is still worth trying out.
What Is Ship of Harkinian?
Ocarina of Time was released in 1998, but is still considered one of the greatest games to have ever been made. Several games, including modern titles, have credited OoT for being the inspiration. This explains why fans have been hoping for a remake for modern consoles, but Ship of Harkinian is a PC port that was released long before Nintendo announced Ocarina of Time’s return.
The port is completely fan-developed, and allows Ocarina of Time to run on modern PCs and laptops. Ship of Harkinian isn’t associated with Nintendo, and the development team backported the original game. There have always been Nintendo 64 emulators available, but Ship of Harkinian is a native port that is more stable and also offers several unique features.
- Widescreen support: The original Nintendo 64 Ocarina of Time was designed for 4:3 displays, but Ship of Harkinian allows you to play in widescreen resolutions
- Higher frame rate: Ship of Harkinian allows the game’s smoothness to only be limited by your GPU and monitor
- Enhanced graphics: You can play the game at 1080p, 1440p, or 4K
- Controller support: You can play with a controller or a keyboard and mouse, depending on your preference
- Customization: This is a long list, but Ship of Harkinian can allow you to autosave, speed up the text, skip unnecessary cutscenes, and much more
- Randomizer: This is a unique feature in the port that randomizes everything and allows you to play a completely unique Ocarina of Time
What You Need Before Getting Started
There are a few things you need before you install Ship of Harkinian and start playing.
Ship of Harkinian Installation Files
This is the most important thing you will need to have, as you can’t proceed further if you don’t have the installation files of the port.
Legal Copy of Ocarina of Time
Ship of Harkinian isn’t released with Ocarina of Time built-in for legal purposes, and you will need to have a legal copy of OoT so the port can use it to generate the game.
A Compatible Computer or Laptop
Ship of Harkinian isn’t too demanding about the hardware you use, but your PC’s specs must be at least enough for the game to run without issues.
The recommended specs are:
- Windows 10
- 4GB RAM
- A decent CPU
A Controller or Mouse and Keyboard
You can decide how to play the game, but you will need the equipment required to control the game.
How to Install Ship of Harkinian
The installation process is straightforward and doesn’t require too much technical expertise.
Download the Latest Ship of Harkinian Version
You can download the latest version of Ship of Harkinian from the GitHub release page. Once you have the file downloaded, extract it to a folder. This folder is important, as the game will be launched from it.
Launch the port
Open the folder you extracted Ship of Harkinian to and open the executable file. You will get a pop-up as the port doesn’t have the Ocarina of Time assets. You can select the ROM, and the port will automatically extract and generate the required assets, and the game will launch.
Play Ship of Harkinian
Once you have used the ROM to generate the resources, you can start playing Ship of Harkinian by launching the executable file.
Common Issues and How to Fix Them
Here are some common issues you may run into while installing Ship of Harkinian and how you can fix them.
ROM Not Working
This is a significantly common issue, and if the ROM you tried to use with the port didn’t work, then you likely need another one. Ship of Harkinian states that both NTSC and PAL N64 ROMs work, but it’s possible to run into issues even if you get the correct region ROMs.
Controller Not Working
There are several reasons why your controller may not work with Ship of Harkinian. The first thing to check is whether your PC is detecting the controller. If it isn’t, you can try restarting your PC and check again. If your PC can detect the controller but you can’t use it in Ship of Harkinian, try restarting the game or check the in-game settings.
