DKR-R

DKR-R — Diddy Kong Racing Recompiled

DKR-R 1.0.4 is a cross-platform static recompilation of Diddy Kong Racing for Windows and Linux. It runs the original game from a locally selected, legally obtained US v1.0 or US Rev A/v1.1 Game Pak image; no ROM or extracted Nintendo/Rare assets are included.

Version 1 highlights

• Accurate presentation: original 4:3 composition, 30 FPS cadence, audio, object detail and game behaviour.
• Modern presentation: widescreen, interpolated unlocked FPS, FOV, extended scenery distance, maximum vehicle detail and anisotropic filtering.
• Controller-first launcher and transparent in-game settings overlay.
• Four independent local-player controller assignments and binding profiles, keyboard ownership, quick race restart and two-axis gyro steering.
• Independent live master, music, effects, vehicle and ambience levels, plus EQ.
• Save import/export/backups, checksum-safe Save Builder and launch-time Magic Codes.
• Optional performance overlay, CRT masks and hot-swappable RT64/Rice texture packs.
• Compact HUD placement controls with original, safe-area and fit-to-viewport modes, plus a global HUD-size control for Modern presentation.
• Native virtual EEPROM and four independent Controller Paks, available alongside rumble on the same controllers.
• A privacy-safe support summary with exportable settings/system information, optional diagnostic logging and optional crash dumps.

Game simulation, race timers, AI, input polling and audio remain on the original timeline when Modern interpolation is enabled.

Version 1.0.1 highlights

• Shadows and vehicle props have been fixed and no longer pop in and out, flicker or shrink on random frames.
• Extended Controller compatibility! SDL2 and SDL3 compatible as well as native gyro support for the steamdeck. No longer need to use Steam Input for Gyro.
• Overlay and Launcher Overhaul with loads of new settings added!
• 2 Player Online Multiplayer is now Included! 2P Adventure is also working as intended. (Highly dependent on a stable internet connection for the best experience. Use the built in Network Tester in the Lobby before starting your match to make sure the connection is good before playing)
• An issue with Custom Texture Alignment has been fixed.
• The Black bar that would appear at the bottom while using Expand to Window has been fixed.
• Performance has been fixed in many areas.
• You can now invert controls on a Per-vehicle basis. So if you want inverted controls for Planes only, you can!
• Fixed an issue where users would experience a crash or black screen at un-predictable intervals. This was due to an Audio Overflow and has been fixed.
• Encrypted two-player five-character Quick Join, host-approved admission, one-click invitations for authenticated friends, synchronized start barriers, connection telemetry and deterministic replay logs.
• A host-authoritative five-second online start countdown, plus native JOINTVENTURE routing that preserves DKR's shared Adventure hub while giving each online racer control when the game assigns them the lead.

Version 1.0.2 highlights

• Stability and Performance fixes.

Playing

1. Download the package for your platform.
2. Start DKR-R.exe on Windows or the .AppImage on Linux.
3. Select your own supported Diddy Kong Racing US ROM when prompted. Big-endian .z64, 16-bit byte-swapped .v64, and 32-bit little-endian .n64 byte orders are detected automatically, regardless of the filename extension.
4. Choose Accurate or Modern and select START Diddy Kong Racing - Recompiled.

The public download is one application per platform. DKR-R identifies the ROM before renderer or audio startup and selects the matching revision automatically; users never choose a revision executable. On Windows, Rev A is loaded as a verified in-process module, so every supported revision runs in the original DKR-R process and window without starting a background game process.

Supported ROM SHA-1 values after byte-order normalisation:

0cb115d8716dbbc2922fda38e533b9fe63bb9670
6d96743d46f8c0cd0edb0ec5600b003c89b93755

Open the in-game overlay with Escape, F1, or controller Back/View. Alt+Enter and F11 toggle fullscreen.

The Play page can export a privacy-safe support report and open the local log, crash-dump and report folders. Diagnostic logging and crash dumps are opt-in; support reports omit file paths, save data, account names, controller IDs, friend codes and lobby codes.

The Controls page assigns connected gamepads to Players 1-4. Automatic mode keeps first-connected order; Manual mode remembers each assignment across restarts and reconnects without shifting the remaining players. A bundled cross-platform mapping database covers modern N64 pads and mainstream controllers; an in-app N64 setup wizard handles unmapped or incorrectly mapped devices. Only friendly controller names and supported features are shown. Hardware identifiers used for reliable reconnect matching remain private to the runtime. See docs/CONTROLLERS.md.

Online multiplayer is player-hosted: Player 1 is always the host. Remote friends can use a five-character Quick Join code with no account or port forwarding; the public rendezvous exchanges signalling metadata only and never carries gameplay. Quick Join is the sole connection workflow, so players never select an adapter, exchange an address, import an invitation file or configure a UDP port. There is no DKR-R account, gameplay backend or relay. See docs/ONLINE_MULTIPLAYER.md.

Release files

dist/DKR-R-1.0.4-Windows-x64.zip
dist/DKR-R-1.0.4-Linux-x86_64.AppImage

The Linux release is always distributed as an AppImage. macOS is supported by the source/build kit and requires an Apple host for signing and final testing.

Building

See docs/BUILDING.md. The short Windows path is:

Build-DKR-Runtime.cmd
Build-Windows.cmd

The Linux build uses the already generated recompilation sources:

./Setup-Linux.sh
./Build-Linux.sh

Dependency revisions are pinned in dependencies.lock.json; all dependency changes are reproducible patches listed in patches/manifest.json.

Texture Pack

For those of you looking for the DKR-R Community Texture pack. It can be found in our Discord Server here:

See docs/ASSET_POLICY.md, docs/ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/TEXTURE_PACKS.md, and docs/ONLINE_MULTIPLAYER.md, and docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md.

Credits and licensing

DKR-R was created by ThatGuyMcd with contributions from the DKR-R project. The DKR-R application icon was created by POOTERMAN. The DKR-R HDR Texture Pack Project re-imagines the original artwork in crisp HD while remaining faithful to DKR; sr.gu leads that community project. The runtime uses N64Recomp, N64ModernRuntime, RT64, SDL2, a private headless SDL3 input helper, and Dear ImGui; exact credits and licences are in THIRD_PARTY.md.

DKR-R does not include or grant rights to Diddy Kong Racing, its ROM, or its assets. Diddy Kong Racing and related properties belong to their respective owners.