v0.3.0

Metroid Dread — recompiled for PC, v0.3.0

Work in progress. This project was shared before it was ready, and 1.0.0 will be the first proper release. Expect rough edges. If something breaks, please open a bug report and attach the .log from the game folder. I'll do the best I can to fix problems and make this a good experience.

You need your own dumped copy of Metroid Dread 2.1.0. Setup asks for it and builds the game on your PC.

New

• Updates from inside the game. The Play screen checks for new versions and offers UPDATE:
  • Only the game's own files that changed are downloaded (a few MB, not the whole 72 MB zip).
  • Every file is checked before anything is replaced.
  • If a new version changes the game code, it's rebuilt from the files you already installed. You don't pick your game folder again.
  • UNDO goes back to the previous version.
  • Saves, settings and mods are never touched.
  • It can be switched off on the Play screen.
• AUTO-SET: the best settings for your PC. Not sure what to pick? Press AUTO-SET on the Play screen. It reads your graphics card, screen and memory and picks resolution, frame rate and quality to match, including laptops and handhelds with integrated graphics. New installations get these settings automatically after setup. Anything can still be changed afterwards.
• Sharpening (Graphics > Sharpening: Off / Low / Medium / High / Maximum, also in the in-game menu). It sharpens edges without white halos and works on OpenGL and Native Vulkan. It costs no measurable performance.

Fixed

• Setup can't find the ExeFS when it's inside an emulator dump folder. Setup now looks a few folders down, so a folder like dump\<title id>\exefs + romfs works as it is.
• Unclear error when only a RomFS was dumped. It now says the ExeFS is needed too. Both must come from version 2.1.0 with the update applied.

Note for v0.2.0 users

v0.2.0 has no updater, so download this version once. Extract it over your current folder and choose Replace when Windows asks: saves, settings, mods and the compiled game stay, and you don't run setup again. From v0.3.0 on, updates come through the Play screen.

Reporting problems

Use the new bug report form. It asks for the .log, performance.txt for stutter, your CPU, GPU, RAM and Windows version. Most crashes can't be traced without the log.

v0.2.0

Metroid Dread — recompiled for PC, v0.2.0

You need your own dumped copy of Metroid Dread 2.1.0: setup asks for it and builds the game on your PC.

New

• Skip any cutscene (Gameplay, off by default): hold − for a moment, or press + then −, to skip any cutscene
  the game lets you skip, even the first time, and the story pages at the start of a new game. A "Hold (−) to skip"
  prompt in the game's own font shows in the top-left corner (OpenGL and Native Vulkan).
• FPS counter toggle (Play screen > Gameplay, and the in-game menu).
• Add to Steam (Play screen): adds the game to Steam as a non-Steam game, with its icon.
• New program icon.
• Mouse free aim while the aim button is held.

Fixed

• 30 FPS cutscenes no longer stutter: their frames are now shown at an even 33.3 ms (they ranged 17–42 ms on
  high-refresh screens).
• 4× resolution lighting: no more dotted grid in the glow.
• Audio: the game's reverb effect is now emulated (sounds sent to it used to play dry and 4× too loud).

Diagnostics

• performance.txt now lists every frame over 50 ms (was 120 ms) with where the time went. Please include it with
  bug reports about stutter.

System requirements (measured)

• The game itself uses about 2.7 GB of memory, plus about 1 GB for the runtime, code and graphics driver:
  8 GB of RAM recommended. 4 GB PCs run but pause much longer on loads.
• OpenGL 4.3 graphics. Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics holds 60 FPS in most of the game at 1×.

Program icon: Metroid icon created by Smashicons - Flaticon.

DISCLAIMER: AI was used.

Metroid Dread — recompiled for PC v0.1.0 (preview)

Metroid Dread — recompiled for PC, v0.1.0 (preview)

One Windows program that turns your own copy of Metroid Dread 2.1.0 into a native PC game. No Nintendo files, keys or firmware are included: the first start checks your extracted game files and compiles them on your PC with the bundled GCC (a few minutes, about 7 GB of space).

Getting started

1. Dump Metroid Dread and its 2.1.0 update from your own Switch and extract them with the update applied, into a folder with "exefs" and "romfs" inside (an emulator's "Extract RomFS / ExeFS" with the update installed gives this too). This program does not dump or decrypt anything itself.
2. Unzip MetroidDread-PC-v0.1.0.zip anywhere and start Metroid Dread.exe.
3. Point it at your extracted folder; it verifies every file against the 2.1.0 list and compiles the game.
4. Then the Play screen opens. In the game, F1 or the Home / Guide button opens the menu.

Highlights

• Play screen with settings, controller set-up (Xbox, Switch Pro, Joy-Con, DualShock 4, DualSense, 8BitDo), mods / texture packs and save backups
• In-game menu: resolution, frame-rate cap (60 to 240), anti-aliasing, volume and more change while you play
• OpenGL renderer (recommended) and an experimental native Vulkan renderer (ScarletNX)
• 60 FPS cutscenes and loading screens, 16:10 and 21:9 picture shapes, anisotropic filtering, shader pre-build
• Button icons that match your controller: Xbox controllers and the Steam Deck get Xbox icons, DualShock 4 PS4 icons, DualSense PS5 icons (Controls > Button icons: Automatic, or pick one). The icon packs are community mods, downloaded from GameBanana with one click when you choose them

Notes

• Windows 10/11, 64-bit. A Linux / Steam Deck build exists in the source repository (build scripts in linux/).
• This release has no DLSS and no frame generation. DLAA can be added to your own build: see DLSS.md in the repository (personal use only).
• The program is GPL-3.0 (it contains the ScarletNX renderer); its source is this repository.

Credits

Made by yozander2009-stack (project lead) with Claude by Anthropic (AI pair programmer).
Built on SwitchRecomp by MZ Labs; ScarletNX (native Vulkan renderer); theboy181 (60 FPS cutscenes, 21:9 patches); button-icon mods by Krydar (Xbox), Nova77 (PS4) and xSeRosiSx (PS5), with art from Xelu's FREE Controller Prompts; Dear ImGui; SDL2; zlib; libvpx; OpenH264; GCC / MinGW-w64; Python. Full licences are in the licenses folder.

Metroid Dread is © Nintendo. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo.

SHA-256 of MetroidDread-PC-v0.1.0.zip: fbdde6fbff1253e2be777af33afc27864fcdb89b100ec8e0d39f56d61c1add87
Metroid Dread is © Nintendo. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo.

SHA-256 of MetroidDread-PC-v0.1.0.zip: ef7daa89e8d90a7fe281963ec57a1a633b6785445c04f46ddba0b5ce9671c7e4