Building & Contributing

Building the Game

I realized I didn't have a comprehensive page on this so here it is. This takes you step-by-step through the entire process.

Windows Prerequisites:

• Before doing anything, right click the script Unblock-All-Files.ps1 and choose "Properties".
• Check the box that says "Unblock" and press "Apply" and hit "OK".
• Right click the script and select "Run with PowerShell". If it asks about Execution Policy select "Run Once".

Building:

• Download and install .NET 8.0.127 SDK ==> https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/8.0
• Download the source code => https://github.com/BigheadSMZ/Zelda-LA-DX-HD-Updated/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
• Unzip it somewhere, open it up, and take note of the folder assets_original.
• You will need the original "v1.0.0 release" from itch.io. I can not provide a link so use Google.
• Unzip the v1.0.0 release. You should see Content & Data folders, source.7z, and Link's Awakening DX HD.exe.
• Copy the Data folder from here to the assets_original folder.
• Extract source.7z. Inside you should find a Content folder. Copy to the assets_original folder.
• You do NOT want the Contentfolder from the game folder as the files are already compiled.
• At this point you should have Content and Data inside the assets_original folder.
• Just to recap: Content comes from source code, Data comes from the game folder.
• Launch the included migration tool LADXHD-Migrater.exe and click "Migrate Assets From v1.0.0".
• To verify if it worked, navigate to: .\ladxhd_game_source_code\ProjectZ.Core\Content\Fonts.
• You should see fonts and files like smallFont_redux.png and smallFont_chn.fnt.
• To build the game, from the migration tool, select your "Platform" of choice (and "Target" on Windows).
• Click the Create a new Build button to build the game. It will be in the ~Publish folder.
• Always keep the assets_original folder and the "v1.0.0 assets" as you will always need them.

Building the Launcher

Building the game does not build the launcher as it's a separate project.

• Download and install .NET 8.0.127 SDK ==> https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/8.0
• Download the source code => https://github.com/BigheadSMZ/Zelda-LA-DX-HD-Updated/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
• Unzip it somewhere, open it up, and navigate to the folder ladxhd_launcher_source_code.
• Double click the publish.bat batch script. Wait for it to finish.
• The builds will be in the ~Publish folder after it completes.
• Copy the Launcher.exe to the game directory (or just Launcher on non-Windows OS).

Contributing

• NEVER contribute anything in the Content or Data folders via Pull Request.
• If you update the assets in these folders, use the migration tool to create patches instead.
• This is why you keep the v1.0.0 assets around at all times. It is needed to create patches of assets.
• To create patches, simply click the button "Create Patches of Updated Assets" and wait for it to finish.
• Navigate to the folder assets_patches. Here you will find the patch of the asset you updated.
• Only make Pull Requests with the updated patches, NEVER the updated assets.
• If Git is properly set up, any changes to theassets_patches folder is automatically picked up.
• Other users can pull the changes to get your updated patches, and use "Migrate Assets From v1.0.0".
• Fixes to the game source code are always very welcomed, but feel free to fix anything in the repo.

Other Notes

• Publishing Android builds requires installing the Android SDK (usually through Visual Studio).
• Thepublish.bat script in ladxhd_launcher_source_code builds all ports in one go.