The Legend of Zelda: The Gerudo Wars

The Legend of Zelda: The Gerudo Wars was a cancelled real-time strategy (RTS) game that eventually transformed into Hyrule: Total War. Gerudo Wars was created by Chasen Lindsey, using RPG Maker and is played as a tactical Real Time Strategy Game. Only one demo was ever released in November 2009 before Lindsey transferred over to the Medieval 2: Total War engine and renamed the project Hyrule: Total War. It is no longer available for download.

Plot
Gerudo Wars is a prequel to the events of The Legend of Zelda: The Fallen Sage, set 20 years before said game's events. Few details of its storyline are known, though much of it was later adapted for the Gerudo Wars arc in Hyrule Historia.

Gameplay
Gerudo Wars laid much of the groundwork for Hyrule: Total War's factions and gameplay. Players begin gameplay with a central base settlement for producing military and supply units and securing Rupee pits scattered across the map in order to expand. The finished game would have boasted seven playable factions that had later evolved into the six starting factions of the Freeform Campaign.

Kingdom of Hyrule

Gerudo Federation

Goron Empire

Zora Dominion

Kokiri Alliance

Gohma Infestation

Forces of Twilight

Of these factions only the Kingdom of Hyrule and Gerudo Federation were playable in the demo.

Each of these factions would have had four playable Hero units. Only five in total existed in the demo.

Kingdom of Hyrule - Princess Zelda III, Akazoo

Gerudo Federation - Runeka, Ganondorf, Nabooru

Cover art indicated that King Zora, Darunia, Saria, and Zant would have also been hero units in the finished game.