Questions, answered from the recompilation app itself
FAQ
What it needs, what it keeps, where it puts things and what it sends. Every answer here comes from the recompilation app as it is built today.
Is this an emulator?
No. The cartridge's machine code was translated into C ahead of time and compiled into a native Windows recompilation app, so nothing imitates the console while you play. The game's drawing goes to RT64 on Direct3D 12, and its sound code was translated the same way as the rest.
Which copy of the game do I need?
Your own ROM of the NTSC-U 1.0 version. The .z64, .n64 and .v64 byte orders all work: the recompilation app puts the file in the right order in memory. Other versions are refused with a message saying which version it is not. Nothing of the game ships with the recompilation app.
Is there a plan to support other versions in the future?
Yes. The plan is to lift the version lock, for the later NTSC revisions and for PAL, so that whichever copy you own works. Each version needs a translation of its own, so it gets a plan of its own before any of it is built, and there is no date yet. See it on the roadmap.
How does it know the ROM is right?
It checks the file's checksum before it uses a byte of it. A file it cannot open, a file that is not an N64 ROM, a ROM of another game, and this game in another version are each refused with their own reason, and you can choose another.
Does it copy my ROM?
No. It remembers only where the file is and reads it from there each time it starts, checking it again. An installed copy asks once whether you want a copy kept beside the recompilation app; the original is never moved.
What computer does it need?
Windows 10 or 11, 64 bit, a graphics card with Direct3D 12 and Shader Model 6, and a processor with SSE4.1. The runtime libraries it needs come with it, so there is nothing else to install.
Do I need a ray tracing graphics card?
No. The traced lighting needs a card that supports DirectX Raytracing. On a card without it, the game draws its own lighting and shadows as the console did, and the Lighting menu says so rather than leaving you guessing.
Can I still play it the way it looked on the console?
Yes, with the same download. Set Resolution to Original, Aspect ratio to Original 4:3, Texture pack to Off and Ray traced lighting to Off, and the recompilation app draws the game at the console's own 320 by 240, four by three. Each of those is a row in the settings, so you can go from one look to the other whenever you like. See both side by side in the gallery.
Does it run on a Mac, on Linux or on a Steam Deck?
It is built for Windows only, and only Windows is tested.
Are there plans to support other operating systems?
Yes. Linux comes first, then macOS. The runtime the recompilation app is built on and its renderer already run on Linux, so most of the work is in the parts that are Windows only today, and the largest unknown is bringing the traced lighting across. It gets a plan of its own before any of it is built, and there is no date yet. See it on the roadmap.
Saved moments and save states
A saved moment keeps everything that matters.
A saved moment is very close to a save state. Everything the game would have saved stays exactly as it was, and so does where Link stands. The only things that start over are the things that were moving.
Kept
- Everything the game's own save keeps
- Items, flags, opened chests, pressed switches
- Where Link is
- Where he stands and the way he faces
- The room
- The same room, at the same time of day
- Your magic
- As it was
What starts over
- Enemies
- Back where the room places them
- Moving platforms and projectiles
- Back to their starting points
- Animations and the camera
- Start again, as when the game loads a file
Why not a full save state
This is not an emulator, so there is no console to copy.
An emulator saves a state by copying its whole imitation console to a file. This recompilation app has no imitation console to copy. The game runs as real Windows threads, and the exact point each thread has reached is held in places that can't be saved to a file. So instead, resuming reloads the room around Link, just as the game does when it loads a save. Resume on start works this way too.
How do I save and load a moment?
F6 saves a moment and F9 goes back to the newest. There are eight slots; when all eight are full, a new moment replaces the oldest. An autosave can keep one every 5, 10 or 15 minutes, holding the last five. A moment cannot be saved during a scene change, a cutscene, a text box or the pause menu, or at zero health.
Can it pick up exactly where I left off?
Yes. Turn on Save on quit and Resume on start: closing the recompilation app saves a moment, and the next time it opens it goes straight back to it, past the title and the file select. Both are off until you turn them on.
What are the controls?
On a keyboard: WASD moves, Space is A, Left Shift is B, Q is Z, E is L, R is R, I, J, K and L are the C buttons, Enter is Start, and the arrow keys are the D-pad. F1 opens the menu. On a pad, A, B, Z, the shoulders and Start sit where you would expect, the right stick gives the C buttons, and Back or a PlayStation pad's touchpad click opens the menu.
Can I change the controls?
Yes. F3 opens Controls: pick a slot, press Enter, then press the key or button you want. Each input takes two bindings, each controller keeps its own, and changes are saved at once.
Can I use a texture pack?
Yes. Put the pack in the texture-packs folder (a .rtz file, a .zip, or a folder holding rt64.json), then choose it on the Texture pack row. OoT Reloaded by GhostlyDark has a version made for RT64, the renderer this recompilation app is built on, so it works here too; the single .rtz file performs best. No pack is included or downloaded by the recompilation app.
Can I use mods?
Not at this time: mods are not supported yet. Mod support is on the roadmap for the future, and it gets a plan of its own before any of it is built. See it on the roadmap.
How does it update?
Only if you say so. On its first run it asks whether to check for updates, and it is off until you answer yes. An installed copy then downloads a new version in the background, checks that it is signed and intact, and opens the installer the next time it starts (or when you press F5). A portable copy only tells you a new version is out.
Where are my saves and settings?
An installed copy keeps everything in one folder, AppData\Local\OoT Recompiled, unless you chose another: settings, controls, the game's save, your saved moments, texture packs and the log. A portable copy keeps the same files beside the recompilation app. Screenshots and recordings go to Pictures\OoT-Recomp either way. The Your files screen in the recompilation app lists and opens each of these.
How do I uninstall it?
Choose OoT Recompiled in Windows' installed apps, then Remove everything on the screen that opens.
Careful: this deletes your saves.
That deletes the whole install folder, with your saves and texture packs in it, so copy anything you want to keep first. Your ROM is moved to your Downloads folder, never deleted. A portable copy installed nothing: delete its folder.
Something went wrong. What should I send?
The log. It is called oot-recompiled.log, beside the recompilation app for a portable copy or in the install folder otherwise. It is written fresh every time the recompilation app starts, so copy it before you open the recompilation app again, then attach it to a bug report on the Feedback page. The report form takes the file directly, up to 2 MB, and only I can open it. It holds nothing from the game, though its file paths can include your Windows user name.
Does it send anything over the internet?
Only the update check, and only if you turned it on: one request asking which version is newest, at start and every four hours while it runs, and the download that follows when there is one. Nothing about you, your machine or your copy of the game is sent.
Is it free, and can I see the source?
It is free, and it is open source under GPL-3.0, so you can read the source and build it yourself.
Is the download signed?
Yes. The installer and the recompilation app are signed with Azure Trusted Signing, in the name Jonathan Barnes.