pokopia-recomp

🏝️ Pokopia Recomp

Pokémon Pokopia (Switch 2) recompiled to run natively on Windows, with multiplayer support.

Releases · Changelog · Contributing · Credits · Parent: pokopia-native · Security · Legal · Issues

Screenshots

Title screen	Building your island
Placing items with Joy-Con 2 mouse mode	Link Play with a friend (work in progress)

Features

Play together (Link Play)

• Visit a friend's island, or invite them to yours, on the same Wi-Fi or over the internet.
• Set it up in the launcher's Link Play page: press Host and share the address and code it shows, or press Visit and type them in. No files to edit.
• A room code keeps strangers out.
• Step-by-step guide: Playing together.

Import your saves

• Already playing on Eden or Ryujinx? One button in Settings finds your save and brings it over. Your emulator's copy isn't touched.
• Got a save somewhere else? Pick its folder (the one with B00, G00 and S00 inside).
• Your current save is never deleted. It's kept as a backup folder first.
• If a save can't be written (a full disk, OneDrive or antivirus holding the file), your last good save is kept and the game tells you.

Easy setup

• Use your dump as it comes: a folder (with base and updates) or a single .nup file.
• Clear messages if something is wrong with your dump: the wrong game version, a missing update, or files damaged while copying. The launcher tells you what to do.
• Checks before it starts: enough disk space, a working graphics driver, enough memory.
• Use fewer cores keeps your PC usable while it builds. You can pause and carry on later.
• Updates are quick: only the parts that changed are rebuilt.
• The launcher tells you when a new version is out.

Controls

• Any controller: Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro and more, with rumble and motion. Buttons follow the Switch layout by default.
• Keyboard and mouse. The mouse also works in menus: click to pick, scroll to move.
• Change any button on the F1 Controls page.
• Joy-Con 2 mouse mode for placing items: press the middle mouse button.
• On-screen button icons match what you're holding: keyboard, Xbox, PlayStation or Switch.
• Typing your name works with a controller, mouse or keyboard.
• Quit without Alt+F4: hold Select and Start (View and Menu on an Xbox pad), or use Quit game in F1.

Steam Deck and handhelds

• Steam Deck, Legion Go S and other handhelds are recognised: controller icons stay on screen and the picture size suits the screen.
• 16:10 screens are filled edge to edge, with no black bars.
• Runs through Proton on SteamOS, with handheld speed-ups (about 26 to 53 fps on a Steam Deck and 55 to 75 fps on a Legion Go S, measured by players).
• The launcher runs on Linux and SteamOS too: see Linux, SteamOS and the Steam Deck.

Graphics

• Play at any resolution, 4K and above. Lower Render scale if it runs slowly.
• Quality presets (Switch 2, High, Ultra) set how far you can see and how sharp textures are.
• HDR on HDR screens.
• Window, borderless or full screen. Choose the monitor, cap the frame rate, show an FPS counter. Alt+Enter switches modes while playing.
• Upscalers: FSR 1 and NVIDIA Image Scaling work.
• FSR 3 and DLSS / DLAA are there but don't look good yet and need rework. Leave them off for now.

In-game settings

Press F1 in the game to change graphics, controls and sound (volume, output device, mute when the window is in the background). Most changes apply straight away.

Quick start

1. Download the zip from the latest release and extract it anywhere.
2. Run PokopiaLauncher.exe. If SmartScreen warns, choose More info → Run anyway. Pick your dump folder and press Set up: it compiles the game on your PC (about 7 minutes), then builds the shader cache (1 to 2 hours, you can pause and continue later).
3. Press Play.

F1 opens the settings in game. Middle mouse toggles Joy-Con 2 mouse mode for placing items.

Linux, SteamOS and the Steam Deck

1. In Steam, install Proton Experimental (Library, Tools; on a Steam Deck switch to Desktop Mode first).
2. Download PokopiaRecomp-<version>-linux-x64.tar.gz from the latest release and extract it anywhere (for example your home folder).
3. Run PokopiaLauncher.AppImage in that folder (double-click it, or ./PokopiaLauncher.AppImage in a terminal). Pick your dump folder and press Set up: the first time it downloads its build tools (Python and Zig, about 100 MB), compiles the game, then builds the shader cache through Proton. You can pause and continue later.
4. Press Play. The game itself runs through Steam's Proton.

If PokopiaLauncher.AppImage does not start on a system without FUSE, run ./PokopiaLauncher.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run.

To start the game from Steam (Game Mode on the Deck): in Desktop Mode, Add a Non-Steam Game, pick PokopiaLauncher.AppImage, and set its launch options to --play. More detail, and what was tested, in launcher/README.md.

Updating from an older version

Your saves, settings and shaders stay.

1. Download the new zip from the latest release. Close the game and the launcher.
2. Extract it over your install, into the same folder. The zip holds no saves, settings, shader cache or game files, so extracting does not replace them.
3. Run PokopiaLauncher.exe. If the update changes the game code, the launcher says so: open Game files and press Set up again. It rebuilds pkp.exe (about 7 minutes). The old pkp.exe stays until the new one is ready.
4. Press Play.

Copy the save folder somewhere first if you want a backup. A save that a newer version wrote may not load in an older one.

Playing together

Link Play puts two players on one island. Every player needs this release, and each player needs their own save: a copy of someone else's save cannot join its original.

To host

1. In the launcher, open Link Play and pick Host on this PC, then Start hosting.
2. Give your friends one of the addresses it shows (the first one is for your own network) and the room code. Use Copy for both.
3. Keep the launcher open while you play, and press Play.

To visit

1. In the launcher, open Link Play, pick Visit, type the host's address and room code, and press Save.
2. Press Play.

Before you start (Windows): the first time, Windows Firewall asks about the launcher: allow Private networks. Your network must be Private too (Settings, Network & internet, your connection, Network profile type: Private). On a Public network Windows keeps the other PCs out; the host page warns you.

In the game, open the PC in your first house, then Link Play (it unlocks after Environment Level 2 in the Withered Wasteland) and pick Local connection. (Online connection is Nintendo's own service and does not work here.) The host picks Invite Others to Visit, the visitor Visit a Friend.

Over the internet: the easy way is Tailscale or ZeroTier (both free for personal use) on every PC: no router settings, and the traffic between you is encrypted. The host page lists that address too. Without one, the host forwards port 39660, TCP and UDP, to their PC on the router's port forwarding page, and gives out their internet address (search "what is my IP" on the host's network). TCP alone works, but UDP keeps a lossy link from stalling. Always use a room code then, and remove the forward when you are done: the relay checks the code but does not encrypt the game's traffic.

Link Play is still being tested: joining and walking around together work, long sessions and more than two players are not tested yet. See docs/multiplayer for how it works and the pkp.ini keys.

Common problems

• The window is black, or the game stutters a lot, on the first launch. The game makes some shaders while it runs. The launcher translates the ones it has seen before every start and again after you quit, so the first runs are rough and later ones are better. Give it a minute and keep playing. If the setup stopped half way, open Game files and press Set up to continue. It keeps finished work.
• The launcher says the game files are from an older version, or that the update is missing. This release needs version 2.0.1a. Dump the game again with the update installed. The base game alone is not enough.
• The launcher says it found no usable game files, or Set up says a file does not match. Pick the folder that holds base and updates (for example Pokopia_v2.0.1a). Each needs exefs (main, sdk, subsdk0, rtld, main.npdm) and romfs. A file that does not match is damaged. Dump it again, or copy it again.
• The launcher says the game data (romfs) is incomplete, or the game closed at start with "pkp.exe exited with code 4". Your dumping tool wrote the update's romfs without the base game's files under it (an update only holds the files it changes). Keep the base game in the same dump (base next to updates, each with exefs and romfs) and pick the folder that holds both: the launcher adds the missing files from base itself. Then press Set up once more. Otherwise dump the game again with the update merged into the base game.
• The launcher says the dump was copied in text mode. You copied it with FTP in text mode, which damages main, sdk and subsdk0. Copy the exefs and romfs folders again with the transfer type set to Binary (FileZilla: Transfer, Transfer type, Binary).
• Your dump is one file (.nsp, .xci). The launcher takes the game as folders, or as a .nup. Extract the .nsp or .xci to folders with your dumping tool.
• Setup stops with an error about a file that cannot be opened or removed. Put the folder somewhere plain, like C:\Pokopia, not in a folder that OneDrive syncs. Your antivirus may be scanning the files it is building: wait for it, or allow the folder. Open setup log shows where it stopped.
• Set up warns before it starts. It checks free disk space (about 36 GB while it runs), Vulkan, memory and the processor first. On an Intel 13th or 14th generation desktop CPU, update the BIOS before you set up: without Intel's fix these CPUs can crash under long full load. If the PC gets hot or hard to use while it builds, tick Use fewer cores.
• Low frame rate, or a blurry picture. The picture size is fixed when the game starts. It is the size of the window or screen at that moment (Settings, Display).
  • Start in Borderless on a 4K screen and the game draws at 4K. That is heavy. Lower Render scale.
  • Start Windowed (1280x720 by default) and press Alt+Enter, and the picture stays 720p, scaled up. Set Window mode before you press Play.
  • Set Frame rate limit to what your screen can show.
• Link Play: "Communication error" (9005) when you visit. You are both playing copies of the same save. Each player needs their own save.
• Link Play: the visitor cannot find the host. Check that the host pressed Start hosting and still has the launcher open, that both typed the same room code, and that both networks are Private in Windows. Over the internet, check the port forward (39660, TCP and UDP) or use Tailscale or ZeroTier. Every player needs the same release. Changes on the Link Play page apply the next time the game starts.
• The controller is not detected. Open the game with F1 and look at the Gamepad line on the Controls page. It says "No gamepad open" when the game sees none. Connect it before you press Play, then try the other cable or port. Close other programs that may be holding the pad.

If it is none of these, see Reporting problems.

Where your saves, logs and settings are

All of these are in the game folder: the folder with PokopiaLauncher.exe and pkp.exe, unless you chose another one in Settings, Game folder.

What	Where
Saves	save (Settings can point it elsewhere: Save folder)
Settings	pkp.ini and controls.ini (F1 in game writes controls.ini)
Log	pkp.log, written on every start from the launcher. A crash also writes pkp_crash.txt, pkp_freeze.txt or pkp_fatal.txt.
Translated shaders	shader_cache (about 26 GB)
Build files	build (the setup's work folder)
Unpacked .nup	nup_dump, if you picked a .nup
Launcher settings	%APPDATA%\org.pkp-recomp.launcher\launcher.json (your dump folder and game folder)

Never attach game files, the build or shader_cache folders, or saves to an issue. pkp.log is enough.

Reporting problems

Open an issue with pkp.log from the session where it happened, your GPU and your Windows version.

License

GPL-3.0. Third-party code keeps its own licence, see CREDITS.md.