So you want to run Tears of the Kingdom on PC or Atmosphere?
If you come across any links that look like a long list of random characters, you will need to use https://www.base64encode.org/ to translate them to plain text.
What determines performance? Mainly Single and multi-thread CPU performance and Graphics Card VRAM amount. I get a decent 40fps+ experience using a Ryzen 5 3600 (12 threads) and RTX 3050 (graphics card is not THAT important though) and you can probably eke out 30-40 fps on older/worse hardware. Just don’t expect solid 60fps without something better than I have.
Good general source of links and info: https://rentry.org/128bb
I’m going to skip some of the basic setup stuff, but you will need to get a prod.keys file. 128 Bit Bay has some of the basics you will need. Check out the “protecting yourself during piracy” guide, but you will want a VPN active while you are torrenting nowadays, as well as a good ad blocker extension.
Download Yuzu (or Ryujinx): https://yuzu-emu.org/downloads/ https://github.com/pineappleEA/pineapple-src/releases. Keep in mind you cannot ask official Yuzu channels for support on Pineapple builds because they are an unofficial source. However, EA/pineapple builds can offer significant performance improvements. They only provide support for EA builds (subscribe to their patreon) or the main build (free). Also, do not discuss piracy on the official Yuzu subreddit or their discord. This will jeopardize their ability to continue operating at all, ruining Switch emulation for everyone! If anyone asks, you dumped the game and keys from a soft modded Switch running cfw.
Download prod.keys or dump them from switch: https://github.com/Abd-007/Switch-Emulators-Guide/blob/main/Yuzu.md#keys Follow the guide to install them in your yuzu folder.
Download or dump ToTK NSP or XCI file: I usually use the Yandex search engine as they rarely/never censor piracy links. 128bitbay above has some links to Roms as well. Point Yuzu to the folder where you keep Switch game files. Then, install the update file to NAND (should end in .nsp). The current version is 1.1.2 with the best performance, but 1.1.1 has the “Y+B” dupe glitch.
OK, here’s the fun part. Mods!
https://github.com/HolographicWings/TOTK-Mods-collection Easiest source of general-purpose mods. Click on releases on the right-hand side to go to the download page. Choose the version matching your game update. The page linked has descriptions of each mod. I personally use:
-720p Cheat method - Turn the resolution scaling to 2x in settings and you’ve got 1400p which is my monitor size.
60 FPS Static - Required for DynamicFPS to go higher than 30fps, or you can target 30fps by using the 30fps static mod + DynamicFPS. Alternatively, you can just use FPS++ without the static fps mod, they do the same thing but YMMV
-Island Fix
-LOD Improvement
-Shadows 1024x
-Anisotropic Filtering Fix
-Disable Internal FSR Downscaling
-UI Blackscreen Fix OR one of the controller UI mods which include it
Mods I use not on HolographicWings Github:
Serfrost’s Defogger: https://gamebanana.com/mods/446995 Removes fog from nearby if that bothers you. Some people prefer to keep it, but I like the added clarity. See also: Better Fog mod on nexusmods
TotK Camera photo/jpeg quality increase mod: https://www.reddit.com/user/ChucksFeedAndSeed/comments/142cgde/totk_camera_photojpeg_quality_increase_mod_v112/
Other general ToTK Mod sources:
GameBanana
Nexus Mods
SomeRandomPeople Gbatemp thread (GBATemp is a great forum for emulation talk)
Chuck’s Feed and Seed, prolific mod creator
TheBoy181 Prolific mod creator/remixer. Got a lot of undeserved hate because he paywalls a few of his mods, but he has HUNDREDS of great mods for other games completely free on GitHub. For example, I got an actually playable experience on Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity using his mods.
Recommended Yuzu settings: https://github.com/HolographicWings/TOTK-Mods-collection/blob/main/SETUP.md#gh-dark-mode-only Take note of the ASTC Recompression setting. You will need it if you have less than 8 GB of VRAM, especially if you are targeting a high resolution.
Yuzu Vulkan Shaders download: aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubWVkaWFmaXJlLmNvbS9maWxlL24xdmpydzRoMWgxNTg2cC8wMTAwZjJjMDExNWI2MDAwLjd6L2ZpbGU=
Put vulkan.bin in your TOTK shader pipeline cache folder. If it causes problems, you can clear the pipeline cache and make your own, but you will have some stuttering at first. Sharing shaders is piracy, FYI so don’t talk about it on yuzu channels.
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Great write up. Why would you care about the dupe glitch though? Can you just edit the save file?
I find the dupe glitch more convenient. And I still have to go to the trouble of locating at least one copy of the item first, which feels less like “cheating” to me. Plus I like using speedrun tricks!
1.1.2 also removes other 1.1.1 glitches: Autobuild cancel slide, Zuggling, Save-load duping, and weapon-state transfer. Autobuild cancel slide is an especially sad loss 😔 I highly recommend checking that out. You can switch between updates easily by installing either one to NAND.
How do I know which prod key to use? Does it depend on which XCI file I get?
Newest one should have all previous keys in the file, but I use 16.0.2. The XCI and NSP base game (version 1.0.0 sometimes marked v0, about 16 GB) should all play the same. And all updates will be smaller nsp files.
It worked, and I eventually found an update file on a very sketchy looking site, haha. Got the 60fps 1440 lazy pack working, but I might do some tweaking eventually. It’s very good, but occasionally dips really low. Pretty amazing as is, though.
Now to figure out Mario Kart against my buddies.
If you get decent framerate on totk, MK8 will work even better! Some people prefer to set vsync or game speed percentage to get a more consistent experience for totk.
What I really need is to replace the 3600 I’ve been meaning to replace for a year. My 3080 is handling things fine though. I’ll try VSync. Most of the guides said to turn it off, not sure why.
Basically the idea is to set it lower than its highest possible framerate so that it’s not constantly at 100% CPU usage and barely hanging on, therefore stuttering less. I have the same cpu (well technically I have a 5600G which has nearly identical CPU performance if you arent using the integrated graphics) and I prefer the ability for it to go 60 fps in shrines/low intensity areas. And I don’t mind the stuttering/inconsistency.
The 3600 was a beast of a cpu for its price and to this day is quite usable for gaming! But switch emulation is super taxing.
Between the 5600x and the 5800x, you’ve got plenty of options for a good upgrade on AM4. Don’t forget to check if your uefi/bios needs updated.