Athelas 1.1.3

Athelas 1.1.3

Press Update in the launcher, or unzip it over your Athelas folder: your settings, saves and achievements are
kept. One version number for everything now: Athelas, ROTK Fix and both Xbox ports are all 1.1.3.

New

• Make a problem report (About tab, and after a crash). One click puts the logs, the settings, the newest crash
  dump of each Xbox port and a description of your PC (Windows, processor, graphics card and driver, screens,
  controllers) into one zip in the Reports folder, and opens a new bug report on GitHub with those details filled
  in. Write what happened and drag the zip in. Athelas sends nothing itself, and your Windows user name is taken out
  of the files.
• The launcher works fully with a controller (Steam Deck, TV). The D-pad moves through every page and setting,
  LB / RB change tabs, Menu (Start) plays and View (Back) saves from anywhere, B closes dialogs, and a setting's
  explanation shows when the cursor is on it. A line under the summary names the shortcuts in your controller's own
  button names.
• Stutter lines say more (both Xbox ports). Each slow frame in tt.log / rotkx.log is now followed by what
  the game spent that frame on: reading files, waiting, sleeping, and the slowest file read. If you report stutter,
  please make a problem report: this is what we need to fix it.

Fixes

• The Two Towers: the lake at the Gates of Moria. Wading through the water left ripples that grew into big
  bright stripes across the lake and never went away. The lake's ripple simulation is now read the way the game
  expects, so ripples spread and fade as on the Xbox.
• The Two Towers: "Press Start" with the keyboard (#8). The title screen takes only Start, and
  in the menus the keyboard's Esc goes back, so nothing on the keyboard got past it. Enter (the A key) now presses
  Start as well in the front end, so it goes on from the title screen and works in the menus as before.
• Blocky textures at high resolutions (#1) (both Xbox ports). Some textures the game enlarges
  without smoothing (moss, reeds, grass and other cut-out plants, and a few others) now enlarge smoothly at higher
  resolutions instead of showing big square pixels. At the Xbox's own resolution nothing changes.
• Save times in your own time zone (both Xbox ports). Saved games showed the time in UTC; they now use your PC's
  time zone and daylight saving.
• The Two Towers: the save screen's layout on wide screens. Its animated map counted as gameplay, so the
  screen's pictures and text were spread to the edges as the HUD is; they now stay where the game puts them.
• Windows on ARM: its own complete download. Athelas-1.1.3-arm64.zip has everything the usual zip has plus the
  native ARM64 builds of the Xbox ports, and updates on an ARM PC fetch it. If the ARM64 builds in the folder are
  from another version, the launcher uses the usual ones and offers to install the right ones.
• The About tab checks the ROTK Fix files. It shows their version and warns if the game folder, or Athelas's
  own copy, has an older one.
• Remove ROTK Fix keeps your achievements and texture packs. It deleted the whole ROTKFix folder, with the
  achievements earned and any texture packs in it; those now stay.
• Windows on ARM: "One processor core" for ROTK Xbox is saved. The launcher didn't write the setting, so ticking it
  did nothing.
• Games on a drive that isn't plugged in stay in the launcher's list. A game on a USB drive or network share that
  was offline when the launcher started was dropped from the list for good; it now comes back when the drive does.
• The launcher and a controller: pressing Start or Back to stop setting buttons no longer also starts the game or
  saves, and a controller only works the launcher while its window is in front.
• The launcher works from a folder whose name has letters outside Windows' language setting (a Cyrillic user name on
  English Windows, say), and a crash dump too big for a problem report is left out instead of cut in two.
• The Two Towers' unused Network setting is gone from its settings (the game has no network play).

Docs

• README: how to make a problem report, the launcher with a controller, and stricter Windows on ARM emulation for
  ROTK on PC if it crashes at random on an ARM PC.

Checksums

Athelas-1.1.3.zip SHA-256: b6f2c827852b4d4a21a3acf92810b5133d69733deac2b57d9bfbbdb10b652f9a
Athelas-1.1.3-arm64.zip SHA-256: 0722277b05f914365ad43ad08daa5538be05d38951303a87717194d582df99ee

Athelas 1.1.2

Athelas 1.1.2

Press Update in the launcher, or unzip it over your Athelas folder: your settings, saves and achievements are
kept.

New

• Less stutter in places you've played before (both Xbox ports). The port now remembers every graphics setup
  it has built, and when the game starts it builds them again in the background, before you reach them. The first
  visit to an area can still hitch once; later visits shouldn't.

• Stutter is now recorded in the log. A frame that takes 50 ms or more is written to tt.log / rotkx.log
  with what it waited on (shaders, graphics setups, textures). If you report stutter, please attach the log.

• Original texture softness (Graphics tab, both Xbox ports) (#6). At high resolutions the
  games' textures show their full, raw detail, so lava, rock and water look grainier than they did on a TV. With
  this on, textures are drawn at the detail the Xbox used at its own resolution: softer, as you remember them. Menus
  and the HUD are not changed. Off by default; the Original preset turns it on.

• The Two Towers: kill points (Gameplay tab). A killing blow now shows the points it earned after its rating
  ("Good +26"), in the game's own font, as The Return of the King does. Off by default.

• All heroes in completed levels (Gameplay tab, all three games). In a level you've already completed, the
  game's own character select offers every hero, as it does once you've beaten the game: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli
  and Isildur in The Two Towers; all nine heroes in The Return of the King. A level you haven't completed yet is
  played as the game has it, so the story is the game's the first time through. Levels built around one hero are
  left alone: the Prologue and Weathertop in The Two Towers, and Helm's Deep (Gandalf's) in The Return of the
  King. In The Return of the King (PC and Xbox), Unlock all levels and characters offers every hero everywhere.
  Off by default.

• Cheats (Gameplay tab, both Xbox ports). The games' own secret codes as switches, without entering them on
  the pause screen: Invulnerable, Always Devastating, Infinite Missiles and Slow Motion in The Two Towers;
  Invulnerable, Infinite Missiles, Always Devastating and Perfect Mode in The Return of the King. Off by default.

• Mouse aiming and mouse in the menus (Controls tab, both Xbox ports). Hold the ranged attack and move the mouse
  to aim. In the game's menus the wheel moves up and down and a right click goes back.

• Controller in the background (both Xbox ports). Turn it off so controllers only reach the game while its
  window is in front. On by default, as before.

Fixes

• The Two Towers: the game's clock no longer drifts or stops in long sessions. The game adds up its time in a
  number that loses precision over hours; at high frame rates it ran a few percent off after about two hours in
  one level, and it could stop after days. It now keeps exact time.

• The Two Towers: Slow Motion is the same speed at any frame rate. The game's own code slowed time by a fixed
  amount a frame, so above 30 fps it ran faster, not slower.

• Keys held while switching windows (Alt-Tab) are ignored until let go.

• Smooth menus and HUD: blocky menu text at 4K (#1). The menu fonts are smoothed and then
  given a crisp edge, so letters have clean curves at high resolutions instead of soft stair steps. Menu pictures
  and the HUD are smoothed as before.

• The Two Towers: levels played as Legolas, Gimli or Isildur now count. Completing a level as one of them
  didn't earn its achievement, and the port didn't notice it was in a level (so Esc behaved as in the menus).

• The README now notes that The Two Towers has been reported working on a real Steam Deck.

Windows on ARM

The ARM test build is updated to this version (see the arm-test pre-release).

Checksum

Athelas-1.1.2.zip SHA-256: a7d2160406e64d303dd4421719b3bc418670e292fa825e3b3341cdd303afd577

ARM test build (not a release)

A test of native builds for Windows on ARM PCs (Snapdragon laptops). If you’re not on an ARM PC, stay on 1.1.2

Athelas 1.1.1

Unzip it over your Athelas folder: your settings, saves and achievements are kept.

New

• Update from the launcher. When a new version is out, an Update button appears at the top right of the
  launcher. It downloads the new version from GitHub, checks it, installs it over your folder and starts the
  launcher again. Your settings, saves and achievements are kept. Nothing is downloaded until you press it. From
  this version on, you won't need to download updates by hand.

Fixes

• The Two Towers: the rare crash a second or two after starting is fixed at its cause. Two of the game's
  threads could use its built-in frame timer at the same moment, which the original Xbox (one processor core)
  never did. 1.0.1's guard stays as a backstop.
• The Two Towers: an incomplete copy of the game (a missing level sound file) now says which file is missing
  instead of crashing.
• ROTK on PC: after updating Athelas, the game folder now gets the new ROTK Fix files when you press Play.
  Before, it kept the version it was first set up with.

Checksum

Athelas-1.1.1.zip SHA-256: 7f9ae20e5cc2537ee4b6bcf05d243df0fff8219a3f65114ac275d928e38d3cd7

Athelas 1.1

Unzip it over your Athelas folder: your settings, saves and achievements are kept.

New

• Athelas tells you when a newer version is out. When it starts, the launcher asks GitHub for the newest
  release's number and shows a note under the settings and on the About tab. Nothing about you or your games is
  sent and nothing is downloaded. Turn it off on the About tab ("Look for new versions").
• Easier problem reports. When a game crashes, the message now has Open log folder and
  Report a problem buttons. The second opens a bug report here with the game, versions and error filled in.
• Windows on ARM: the launcher is ready for native ARM64 builds of the Xbox ports (being tested in the
  1.1-arm-test pre-release) and starts them by
  itself on an ARM PC. On those PCs a One processor core setting appears for the Xbox ports, in case of random
  crashes there. The About tab says which build of each port is running.

Fixes

• Where ROTK's settings are (#4): both versions of The Return
  of the King share ROTKFix.ini. The settings.toml in ROTK-Xbox now says so at its top, with the file's
  location; the launcher's ROTK Xbox About tab shows it with a Show in folder button; and the README has a
  "Where your settings are" section.

Checksum

Athelas-1.1.zip SHA-256: 41536a89122359dcd5dfdf04888907115eab74674f6c7477e2ff9bb6f587db4a

Athelas 1.0.1

A bug-fix update. Unzip it over your Athelas folder: your settings, saves and achievements are kept.

Fixes

• The Two Towers: the crash in Balin's Tomb when the cave troll is hit by an arrow
  (#2). The game's script engine recovers from an error there, as it did on the Xbox; the port
  now does the same instead of closing.
• The Two Towers: a rare crash at startup, in the game's own frame timing, is prevented.
• Copies of the Xbox games that were turned away (#3):
  • A copy whose game code and data are the same as the US release's, and that differs only in its certificate or
    signature (another printing or dump), is now recognised as the US release and starts normally.
  • A genuinely different release can now be started from the launcher: it asks whether to start it anyway, as the
    ports do on their own. These copies aren't tested and may crash.
  • The log names each copy's version and build date, which helps when you report a problem with one.
• Starting a port's exe directly (without the launcher) now uses the launcher's settings, saves and achievements:
  ROTKXbox.exe reads the same ROTKFix.ini the launcher writes, and both ports use the saves folder and
  achievements file beside them (#3).
• Launcher: the achievement list sits under one Achievements heading.

Notes

• At 4K, turn on Smooth menus and HUD (Graphics tab) for The Two Towers: its menus were drawn for a 640x480 TV,
  and the Original look keeps their hard pixels on purpose.
• Windows on ARM (Snapdragon laptops) runs Athelas through Windows' own translation layer, which costs a lot of speed
  in the Xbox ports. A native ARM build is planned.

Checksum

Athelas-1.0.1.zip SHA-256: 7c41eadf83477bdd0e1bec16b6fddd45d33934da5043e5503b987dc9274e961f

Athelas

Athelas 1.0

Athelas is a free, unofficial launcher for three Lord of the Rings games, so you can play your own copies on a modern
Windows PC from one place:

• The Return of the King (PC, 2003), through ROTK Fix
• The Return of the King (Xbox), through a native PC port
• The Two Towers (Xbox), through a native PC port

No game files are included. You need your own copy of each game: the PC game installed, or your own Xbox disc as an
.iso or extracted files (US releases). Nothing bypasses copy protection, and the games' own files are never changed.

What's new

This is the first public release.

The Return of the King (PC), with ROTK Fix

• Any resolution and refresh rate, borderless or fullscreen, widescreen with the right field of view
• Smooth frame rates up to 240 fps with the game's timing fixed to match
• Sharper picture: render scaling, anti-aliasing, texture filtering, sharpening and colour looks (Vulkan through DXVK)
• The game's 3D sound and EAX reverb restored
• Modern Xbox, PlayStation and Switch controllers, with remapping and matching button pictures
• Two-player co-op with two controllers, and online by streaming it with Parsec (or Steam Remote Play Together)
• Gameplay options: damage taken, enemy damage, and every level and character unlocked (all off by default)

The Return of the King (Xbox) 1.0.1

• Runs natively on PC, up to 240 fps, widescreen and ultrawide
• Sharp text and menus, using the PC version's larger fonts and pictures when you have it installed
• Two-player co-op on one screen, and online by streaming it with Parsec (or Steam Remote Play Together)
• The same gameplay options as the PC version: damage taken, enemy damage, unlock everything
• Fixes for slowdowns and for enemies vanishing instead of fading at high frame rates

The Two Towers (Xbox) 1.0.1

• Runs natively on PC: widescreen up to 32:9, up to 240 fps, higher resolutions, HDR
• Controller remapping and adjustable difficulty
• Plays as on the Xbox by default; every enhancement is a setting

Athelas, the launcher

• All three games' settings in one place, with presets
• Background art taken from your own game files, rotating, or your own pictures
• Sets ROTK Fix up in your PC game folder and removes it cleanly

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
• ROTK (PC): a graphics card with a Vulkan 1.3 driver is recommended
• ROTK (PC) 3D sound: Microsoft's Visual C++ Redistributable (x86), which most PCs already have; without it the game
  plays its original sound
• The Xbox games: a DirectX 12 graphics card. The Two Towers needs a controller.
• Tested on Windows 11 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. Windows 10 and AMD and Intel graphics are expected to
  work but haven't been tested yet; reports are welcome.
• Steam Deck and Linux: through Proton (add Athelas.exe as a non-Steam game). Tested in a Deck-like setup, not yet on a
  real Deck.

Install

Unzip into a folder of its own (for example C:\Games\Athelas), run Athelas.exe, and show it where your games are.
The README in the zip has the details.

Known issues

• Only the US releases are supported. Others warn before starting and will most likely not work.
• ROTK (Xbox) looks darker than the PC version. That's faithful to the console; Brightness 1.2 to 1.3 matches the PC.
• The files aren't code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may say "unrecognised app": choose "More info", then
  "Run anyway".

Checksum

Athelas-1.0.zip SHA-256: 2471db9afcd7e81d84f7162b323ec37b54051feecb5db5a340ebe22f44a287d8

Credits

Made by Shagg, with Claude (Anthropic).

Built on DXVK, SDL3, Dear ImGui, DSOAL and OpenAL Soft, and XboxXBE-Recomp (MIT, © 2026 TGP482). Full licences are
in the licenses folder.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Electronic Arts, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. or the Tolkien Estate.