2D Ocarina of Time creator dies in car accident [update 1]

by John Bardinelli { Mar 25th 2007 at 9:28AM }

The creator of a 2D fan remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time recently passed away in a fatal car accident. Dampe (as he was known on the forums) devoted himself to the OoT2D project for months. With his death, the game, the official OoT2D webpage as well as the forums are closed forever. A video from late last year shows the game in action.

Thanks for your dedication. Thousands of people you never even knew appreciate your hard work.

[Thanks, Christian]

[Update: Identity confusion corrected]

Tags: 2d, fan, fanmade, fanproject, homebrew, nintendo, ocarinaoftime, zelda

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Matthew @ Mar 25th 2007 9:32AM

RIP Dampe.

2kings @ Mar 25th 2007 9:37AM

daaaaaaaamn i was really looking forward to playing that

:( what a shame, rip dude

hvnlysoldr @ Mar 25th 2007 9:38AM

Not that he's on the same level as Gunpei Yokoi, but he and his work shall be missed. Nintendo should consider doing this for Ocarina and Majora's Mask. People didn't get Majora's Mask but if it played like A Link to the Past I'm sure people would give it an extra chance.

Patrick @ Mar 25th 2007 9:45AM

rip dude, i hope someone can finish it so his work will not go unappreciated, my condolences to the family RIP Dampe

Rob @ Mar 25th 2007 9:48AM

RIP Dampe. Hmmm, I wonder if any of his close friends had access to his work and source code. If so, perhaps someone else can continue his work.

Heliophage @ Mar 25th 2007 9:51AM

The project won't be continued, though I'm sure a similar one may come about in time.

It really is sad, though, especially since he was so young. 15 or 16 I believe. He wasn't in the car, either. A car, that wasn't speeding, swirved on wet road and knocked him unconscious while he was walking. An accident, in every respect of the word, but that only makes it more sad when nobody's to blame.

Apparently his last words to be remembered by were 'I love you' to his girlfriend. At least he could go out like that.

RIP, Dampe' -- I didn't know you at all, but I hope you rest well.

Tim @ Mar 25th 2007 9:52AM

You're erroneously reporting the death of a different person, who made a different 2D OOT game. The link you provided gives you the right information.

BrotherEstapol @ Mar 25th 2007 9:53AM

Oh my god, that's terrible. :(
It's so sad that someone can put so much work into somthing, and then, well, it's all over...and judging by the message on the website, it doesn't look like it'll ever be finished either.

I just hope that the family are ok, and that no-one pesters them about the work he left behind...

Jared Miller @ Mar 25th 2007 9:53AM

Sorry to hear about this. RIP Daniel.

dragn avengr @ Mar 25th 2007 9:59AM

RIP Daniel

BB @ Mar 25th 2007 10:00AM

I thought Dampe's name was Richard? It even says Richard (Dampe) in the forum post. RIP Richard

BB @ Mar 25th 2007 10:05AM

I did an article about him last November, according to the screen shot of the project, his name was "Richard Denton"

http://www.1pstart.com/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-2d/

Tim @ Mar 25th 2007 10:05AM

@11, yes it was. Daniel Barras goes by the name of TRM.
They've just written an obituary for the wrong person without even looking at the link they posted.

RIP Richard

BB @ Mar 25th 2007 10:10AM

I know it's the weekend and all, but the Joystiq crew gotta double check these things. I mean, in all respects to Richard, he should be properly represented in this article. Please update the article guys.

Pawsie @ Mar 25th 2007 10:17AM

this is so freaking depressing..

ur a retard, @ Mar 25th 2007 10:27AM

no game release. fuck u daniel may u rot in hell!

BluLotusArtGuy @ Mar 25th 2007 10:28AM

Thats too bad... I hope his family the best.
The fact that you can be working on something you love one moment, and gone the next is something a lot of us (gamers) have to take into account. We flame each other constantly about stupid things like consoles and games... The last thing any of us should want is to have the identity of a disrespectful child to someone we dont know, and be gone before we can ever change that.

R.I.P

Daran @ Mar 25th 2007 10:34AM

@16
Lawl, I knew someone was going to post somthing like that.

Dansk @ Mar 25th 2007 10:37AM

Is this how far Nintendo will go to protect its copyright?

Kcx2233 @ Mar 25th 2007 10:39AM

and god said" only the nintendo company shall make Zelda games" Rip dude

willie @ Mar 25th 2007 10:40AM

This is a terrible tragedy, because his project was a truly brilliant idea and i was looking forward to it...

R.I.P.

Rob Accomando @ Mar 25th 2007 10:43AM

R.I.P.

Arno @ Mar 25th 2007 11:01AM

RIP guy.

Christopher Joseph @ Mar 25th 2007 11:03AM

I'll take full blame for the wrong name.

After I told a friend about it he decided to search it all up and found a 'name' that he thought Dampe was.
(Being late I really didn't care for searching it up myself.)
I always knew Dampe as Dampe; so sorry for the fault.

Pasu @ Mar 25th 2007 11:12AM

Daniel Barras was the guy whos trying to create Zelda:ooT 2D with his own programming code from the ground up.

This Richard guy, aka Dampe, is just some 16 year old whos trying to recreate the whole game through RPGMaker.

Rumor has it that the kid faked his own death because he released there is no way to finish the project on his own.

RIP Dampe...

Scott @ Mar 25th 2007 11:21AM

awful I just now heard of this project when the news broke he died. Sounds like it was gonna be a hell of a game. A Damn shame. RIP

whosmav @ Mar 25th 2007 11:43AM

It sucks to lose such a hardcore gamer. A lot of people envision awesome ideas like a 2-D OOT, only a few can make them real. Much respect to Dampe.

RIP

David @ Mar 25th 2007 11:43AM

Heliophage, they let 15 and 16 year olds in the military now? Is Bush getting that desperate for people to send to Iraq.

If you are going to be all sad and shit, and I know people are only sad because they wanted to play the game, then maybe they should read the damn article!

Milkshake @ Mar 25th 2007 11:46AM

I really hope someone can finish all your hard work, R.I.P

Feeble @ Mar 25th 2007 11:53AM

This is more disappointing than when Zelda 3 Clone got canned. (Well, only because of the death) Zelda 3 Clone was a faithful reproduction of the Zelda 3 engine with updated graphics, a programing language, a level editor, and the ability to make your own graphics. OOT2d and Z3C are to be truely missed.

Heliophage @ Mar 25th 2007 11:56AM

@David

He was born in '91 according to that entire forum thread dedicated to the announcement of his death. I'm not entirely sure where the military bit in this Joystiq article comes from.

Defenestrator2.0 @ Mar 25th 2007 11:58AM

Man, that really sucks. I wasn't even aware that this game was in existence, but that doesn't mean that I don't mourn the loss of human life. Rest easy, Dampe. May you collect many rupees and pieces of heart in your travels beyond this life.

Tim @ Mar 25th 2007 12:00PM

@Heliophage, they reported the death of the wrong guy, see Christopher's comment earlier.
The bit about him being in the military is also about the wrong person, but that hasn't been removed for some reason...

Alex @ Mar 25th 2007 12:04PM

Good for him.

Fucking pirate ass motherfucker.

Ironic that his "name" was the same as the gravekeeper.

generaldane @ Mar 25th 2007 12:28PM

R.I.P Dampe

Dan @ Mar 25th 2007 12:36PM

Yo fuck u #34, ur worse that Jack Thompson
R.I.P Dante

John B @ Mar 25th 2007 12:41PM

Alright, everything's cleared up now. The two articles I read this morning about the accident were as mixed up as I was. Daniel was in the military and is working an a ground-up 2D OoT, while Richard (Dampe) was working on a different project in RPGMaker.

Wonder what Daniel's going to think when he sees his name plastered all over teh intrawebs?

The Raven @ Mar 25th 2007 12:42PM

Dampe? Dampe?! DAAAAHHHMPAAAAAYYY!!!!

Monkeydog @ Mar 25th 2007 1:05PM

I was wondering if Joystiq was going to post anything on Dampe's death, and they did. Yay I guess. Thank you for honoring one of my friend's memory.

However, I do know Dampe', and Revenant, really quite well. I've known them for what, two or three years now? I know what they could and would do, and although Dampe' wouldn't do this on regular grounds, Revenant would possibly do it.

I remember when Dampe' first wanted to do this project, he asked me if he should, I said sure and I'd help out as best I could. So I made his site for him, and helped him map a bit in the beginning. Yet, he didn't seem as enthusiastic about it lately than he did when he started. I started to see less and less of him, probably due to both our lives, and hearing really nothing about OOT2D. Plus the hype around the whole game was seeming to give him a lot of stress. Which brings me to believe Dampe' could be just faking this. I had the thought in my mind, but I didn't want to think about it because I thought Dampe' was pretty close to me, for an online buddy, so I mourned for a bit. Yet, when Revenant closed that topic he herded the members over to my forum. Including the ones from Digg and such that would scream FALSE. So I decided to investigate...and...found...nothing. So since the community both me and him were apart of had a bunch of Aussies, I asked one of the people from Melbourne, and she has heard, and could not find a thing, about a death. No police report either, and one of my friends from Perth is going so far to call his school and ask.(he already posted on the schools Myspace asking for information)

Now, I hate to think this as false, but I just wanted to vent this off somewhere, and I thought my favourite gaming blog would be a nice place to do it.

Whether they're lying, he's dead, or he's been killed off by Nintendo, I will miss him, and may his soul Rest in Peace.

Mr Smith @ Mar 25th 2007 1:24PM

um, why would you want a 2d version of a 3d game, gamecubes are like 10 pounds and robbing a conveince shop for a tenner (10 pounds) wont you get in that much trouble. Go buy it, then get a Copy of the game from someone who has it, "Borrow it"

Alex @ Mar 25th 2007 1:52PM

See, he's not even dead.

He's just in hiding like Osama.

Except this guy actually existed at one point.

sean Tyler @ Mar 25th 2007 2:19PM

:((((
RIP!

denney @ Mar 25th 2007 2:20PM

Just give the game to nintendo to finish in memory of that guy.

Scott @ Mar 25th 2007 2:47PM

I think it's a hoax. Look at this statement made on the OoT2D forums:

"Richard's family are having a tough time, as well as his friends, but we've all come to realize that there is a time in everyone's lives where you must move on.

I'm sure all of his close friends from the net (Christo, Monkeydog, Tani) and whoever else, also need to move on."

I've gone through difficult losses myself, and unless you're some kind of rock-hard badass who has no feelings, three days after the loss you're not saying to yourself, "Oh well! Time to move on!" The fact that he keeps drilling this "moving on" idea into everyone's heads tells me that he just wants people to shut up about it. Why? Because it never happened!

Also, his last words were "I love you"? Right. I'm sure he died trying to save a little girl, too.

It shocks me that someone would pretend to die just to avoid finishing a game.

Georgio @ Mar 25th 2007 3:14PM

we should petition Nintendo to create the game for GBA and donate a portion of the profits to Dampe's family.

TouchmyWiimote @ Mar 25th 2007 3:17PM

Why the fuck did they close the site? This is just me, but usually when someone dies on a project you continue thier work and DEDICATE it to them. If I worked that long on something I'd like to see someone complete it. And fact that they hide behind the tragedy pisses me off. "just don't, don't ask...for him" What the fuck is that shit?

Knoxximus @ Mar 25th 2007 3:27PM

Ummm, didn't Gunpei Yokoi die in a fatal car crash too? Kinda, not too long after the Virtual Boy debacle? I'm just sayin'.....

mjs @ Mar 25th 2007 3:38PM

It's most likely BS. Come on, he's been "dead" a few days and the family has nothing better to do than to ask his Internet friend to close their dead son's Zelda Web site? Please.

OhJustSomeRandomGuy @ Mar 25th 2007 3:53PM

Knoxximus:

It wasn't after the Virtua Boy debacle. It was AFTER Yokoi got laid off for the Virtual Boy, and THEN had gone over to Bandai to make the WonderSwan.

The day he got in the car "accident" he had been meeting with an old friend...FROM NINTENDO. He had gotten out of car to investigate an accident when, oddly, he was hit by a third car...

Sensai @ Mar 25th 2007 4:14PM

Surely this is a sad day.

No, not just because we won't get our precious OoT in 2D game, nor because it's just another person dying. It's sad because we lost what seems to be a good guy, always working on a free-to-the-community project, never wanting anything in return.

Rest in peace, friend.

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