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@Shagg88 Shagg88 released this 16 Oct 19:05
· 13 commits to main since this release
1.0
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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.

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