An unofficial "native" Android port of the original 2011 PC version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (not Special Edition). It should run on any arm64 phone with Vulkan 1.1 and is tested on a Snapdragon device with an Adreno 610 GPU (Retroid Pocket Duo Lite, if anyone is curious).

This repository contains no game code or data. You need your own copy of the PC game, which is used as a basis for the recompilation. Personally, I used the Steam version.

Discord: http://discord.gg/df3cK2JCqs

Youtube link below:

• Static recompilation. This project is not a decompilation but a recompilation; Basically, it's just converting one type of code to another rather than re-creating the original source. TESV.exe, d3dx9_42.dll, binkw32.dll and X3DAudio1_7.dll are all recompiled.
• Multi-core: the game's threads run on all cores, like on PC. ARM orders memory more loosely than x86, so the recompiler uses ARM's load-acquire/store-release instructions for shared memory to keep x86 behaviour.
• Graphics: a patched dxvk-native (native-1.9.2b) translates D3D9 to Vulkan 1.1. You must meet this requirement for the game to even launch, but most devices support it nowadays.
• Platform: SDL2 2.30.9 is used for the window, input, audio and the Android activity. There is an optional on-screen overlay for phones without a controller. XAudio2 is reimplemented on top of SDL2.

The app opens on a launcher before the game starts:

• Choose Skyrim folder: where your game files are (see 3. Installing).
• Detail: Low, Medium, High or Ultra, like the PC launcher. Low is the default and is what an Adreno 610 can manage.
• Resolution: the screen's own resolution, or a lower one (down to 108p) that is stretched to fill the screen.
• Antialiasing, Anisotropic filtering, Texture quality, Shadow detail, Decal quantity, Radial blur quality, Object fade distance, Vertical sync: the same options as the PC launcher.
• Touch controls: show or hide the on-screen buttons.
• Nintendo button layout: swaps A/B and X/Y on physical controllers.

Everything comes from your own PC install of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011).

d3dx9_42.dll and X3DAudio1_7.dll come from the DirectX June 2010 redistributable (C:\Windows\SysWOW64 on a PC that has it, or Steam's _CommonRedist\DirectX folder). binkw32.dll is in the game folder.

• TESV.exe 1.9.32.0.8 (the final Steam patch), SHA-1 starts with f39aeceb.
• Remove its SteamStub DRM with Steamless and name the result TESV_unpacked.exe. Its SHA-1 starts with fed96638.
• Check yours with certutil -hashfile TESV_unpacked.exe SHA1 (Windows) or sha1sum TESV_unpacked.exe.
• Other releases (retail disc, older patches, Special Edition) have different code and are untested. Discovery and lifting should work on them, but the hooks in runtime/skyrim_shims.c use fixed addresses that won't match. Special Edition is 64-bit DirectX 11 and won't work at all.
• DLC and mods are untested. Update.esm is fine.

See 3. Installing for instructions.

The build has two stages:

1. Generate gen/ from your game files. This is slow, runs once, and must be redone only when tools/lift.py changes.
2. Build the APK with Gradle, the Android NDK and CMake.

Linux (or WSL) is the easiest host for stage 1. Stage 2 works on Windows, Linux and macOS.

Requirements: Python 3.10+, plus pip install capstone==5.0.9 pefile==2024.8.26. unicorn==2.0.1.post1 is only needed for tools/difftest.py, the lifter self-test.

Put your files (see above) in a folder, called GAME here, then run from the repository root:

tools/regen_gen.sh GAME

The script runs discovery and lifting for the four modules. Any functions the port replaces with host code are renamed f_<addr>_guest automatically, via HOST_OVERRIDES in tools/lift.py, so no manual edits are needed:

Discovery of TESV_unpacked.exe takes several hours. After a change to tools/discover.py, tools/rediscover.py updates analysis/ in seconds instead. Lifting takes about 15 minutes. The generated C is around 340 MB.

Requirements:

• JDK 17 or newer (Android Studio's bundled JBR works).
• Android SDK Platform 34, Build-Tools 34, CMake 3.22.1.
• NDK r27 or newer (built with 29.0.14206865).

Install them with Android Studio's SDK Manager, or from the command line:

sdkmanager "platforms;android-34" "build-tools;34.0.0" "cmake;3.22.1" "ndk;29.0.14206865"

Optionally install the real launcher icon from your copy: python3 tools/make_icon.py GAME/TESV_unpacked.exe.

Then build:

cd android
# Linux/macOS
./gradlew assembleDebug -PndkVersion=29.0.14206865
# Windows
gradlew.bat assembleDebug "-PndkVersion=29.0.14206865"

The APK is written to android/app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk.

• The first build takes 15 to 60 minutes. Each recompiled file needs 1 to 2 GB of RAM to compile, so parallel compiles are capped with LB_GEN_JOBS (default 3). With more RAM, raise it in android/app/build.gradle by adding "-DLB_GEN_JOBS=6" to the cmake arguments.
• debug builds compile the native code optimised anyway (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release). A real debug build is too slow to play.
• If you apply a patch from an archive, touch the extracted files. Archives keep old timestamps, and Ninja will otherwise skip recompiling them.

desktop/build.sh builds build/lb, a Linux x86-64 binary of the same port, which is useful for debugging with a desktop GPU. It needs clang, cmake, ninja, SDL2 and Vulkan development files. Run it as build/lb GAME_DIR SAVE_DIR.

Useful environment variables:

Requirements: an arm64 Android phone with Android 9 or newer and Vulkan 1.1 (most Snapdragon 6xx/7xx/8xx devices from 2018 on), 3 GB of RAM or more, and about 7 GB of free space.

1. Install the APK. Copy it to the phone and open it, allowing "Install unknown apps" for your file manager or browser, or use adb install -r Skyrim-<version>.apk. Newer versions install over older ones.
2. Copy the game files listed above into one folder anywhere outside Android/data, for example Internal storage/Skyrim/. The Data folder goes inside it, next to the exe and DLLs.
   • From a PC: connect by USB (File transfer mode) and copy them in, or run adb push <your folder>/. /sdcard/Skyrim/.
3. Start the app, tap Choose Skyrim folder and pick that folder. Allow the storage prompt. The launcher says Ready when everything is there, or lists what's missing.
4. Pick your settings and tap Play.

Everything the port writes goes into a port folder inside your Skyrim folder: log.txt, last_exit.txt and your saves (port/save/Documents/My Games/Skyrim). Nothing is stored in Android/data, so uninstalling the app keeps your saves.

• Bluetooth, USB, and integrated controllers should work fine (Xbox layout by default; see Nintendo button layout).
• The touch overlay shows a stick, A/B/X/Y, shoulders, Start and Back.

port/log.txt in your Skyrim folder is rewritten on every launch, so please attach it if reporting a problem. It includes per-thread CPU use and a profile every 30 seconds.

Switches: create an empty file with one of these names in port/save/:

• Music and voices in xWMA format play silent.
• Performance on an Adreno 610 is low; use the Low preset and a low resolution.

The Elder Scrolls, Skyrim, Bethesda and all related names and assets belong to their respective owners. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Do not redistribute anything produced from the game or game files. Third-party code keeps its own licenses: SDL2 (zlib) in android/app/jni/SDL2, dxvk-native (zlib) in android/app/jni/dxvk.