Wind Waker Recomp Wiki / Mods & graphics
Wind Waker HD Recomp mods & graphics settings
Built-in mods, a community catalogue, a randomizer and Cemu graphics packs, all managed from the game’s own Settings › Mods, plus every resolution, frame-rate and HDR setting.
- Settings › Mods
- Mod SDK v2
- Randomizer
- 30 → 240 fps
Wind Waker HD Recomp manages mods inside the game: Settings (F1) › Mods. There are three sources: built-in options that ship with the port (all off by default), the community catalogue in ZeldaWWHDRecomp/ZeldaWWHDMods, and files you install yourself. Mods contain no game code or game files; whatever they need from the game is read from your own copy on your device.
Built-in mods
| Group | Options (Settings › Mods › Built-in, and Gameplay) |
|---|---|
| Camera | Direct right-stick camera (no easing, adjustable speed), mouse camera, first person on the mouse wheel, a camera that swings behind Link, a faster boat camera |
| Movement | Climb any wall (stamina wheel), run/swim and sailing speed boosts, faster ivy climbing, faster ledge hanging, Jump anywhere (optional double jump), Deku Leaf wave to rise |
| Speed-ups | Quick doors (Off, Faster, Walk through), fast scene changes, fast forward for cutscenes and dialogue, instant text, no pauses in texts |
| Progress | Achievements (99 goals, kept outside the save), Game progress (a percent, a checklist in ten parts and a sea-chart map) |
| Cheats | All items, full-power Master Sword and Mirror Shield, 20 hearts / double magic / 5000 rupees, infinite health, magic, ammo or rupees, all Nintendo Gallery figurines; story cheats can break events, so use a spare save |
The pause menu also has a settings page (since v0.5.0) drawn in the game’s own style, with Camera, Controls, Screen, Graphics, Game and Mods tabs that work with a controller, keyboard, mouse or touch.
Community mods, Cemu graphics packs and model packs
- Catalogue: mods from ZeldaWWHDMods install from the menu. Experimental ones stay hidden until you turn on Show experimental mods.
- Install from a file: imported packages and Cemu graphics packs.
- GameCube player models (v0.5.1): a model pack you have (a folder or zip with
Link.arc) is converted on your device onto HD Link’s skeleton, materials and animations, with textures upscaled; choose it per save file, live. No model packs ship with the port. - Profile mods (v0.5.1): a mod can keep its own saves, backups, settings and save states, so it never overwrites an ordinary save. Switch all mods off takes effect at the next launch.
Randomizer
v0.5.1 builds the randomizer in: make a randomized game from a preset, a seed name or a permalink, or import a seed made with the TWWHD Randomizer 1.2.0 (every 1.2.0 option, including Quiet Swift Sail and entrance shuffle). Settings › Randomizer shows the seed, its permalink and, after a question, the spoiler log with a sea-chart map. Works for the USA and European games and on Android, and every randomized game keeps its own saves. The development build e5f4286 fixes seeds that crashed right after name entry (#467) and makes and imports seeds from inside the game (Beginner, Standard or Everything).
HD graphics and frame-rate settings
These live in the settings overlay’s Graphics tab (and the macOS Graphics menu). Most can also be set for one start with an environment variable.
| Setting | Choices | Variable |
|---|---|---|
| Internal resolution | 1×, 1.5×, 2×, 3× (R cycles). The game renders at 1280×720; 2× is 2560×1440. | WWHD_RES_SCALE=1|1.5|2|3 |
| Frame rate | 30 (the console’s), 40, or frame interpolation to 60, 120 and 240 fps up to the display’s refresh rate (6 toggles 60). | WWHD_INTERP=1, WWHD_INTERP_FPS=60|120|240 |
| 60 fps (generated, experimental) | v0.5.1, Vulkan only: keeps the game at 30 and generates every other frame on the GPU, HUD kept exact. | — |
| Edge smoothing | FXAA (8). | WWHD_FXAA=0|1 |
| Ambient occlusion | Mode cycles with O; full-size occlusion depth with M. | WWHD_AO_MODE=0..2, WWHD_AO_HIRES=0|1 |
| Texture filtering | 16× anisotropic (N). | WWHD_ANISO=0|1 |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9, the window’s shape, 16:10, 21:9, 32:9 or any w:h. | WWHD_ASPECT=21:9 |
| Gameplay FOV | 75% to 250% of the original view (110° vertical cap); cutscenes keep their own. | — |
| HDR output | Vulkan on Windows and Linux: scRGB or HDR10, with paper white, peak and exposure controls. Off by default. | — |
| Shadow resolution | Scales with internal resolution; =1 keeps the console’s 1024×1024 and saves GPU memory at 2×/3×. | WWHD_SHADOW_SCALE=1 |
| Dynamic resolution | Steps down to 75% or 50% while the GPU holds the game back. | — |
| Grass draw distance | Development build e5f4286: All, Far 4000, Medium 3000 or Near 2000 (46 → 60 fps in Forest Haven on an i3 laptop at Near). | — |
| Stereoscopic 3D | Vulkan: Half SBS, Full SBS, top-and-bottom; 30 fps recommended. | — |
| Presentation | Vsync (FIFO), Low latency (MAILBOX) or Off. | WWHD_VK_PRESENT_MODE=fifo|mailbox|immediate |
Writing mods: Mod SDK v2 and the world editor
- Code mods are written in C or C++ and compiled for the game’s own 32-bit PowerPC CPU; one package works on macOS, Windows and Linux. They hook or replace game functions at runtime, use the game’s data and objects, draw on screen through the HUD API and use host services.
- Content mods (file replacements) and settings presets need no code.
- Story quests (v0.3.0): a Story Notebook quest journal, letters at the Rito postboxes and new treasure charts for quest mods.
- World editor (v0.4.0 preview): start the game with
--editorto place villagers, enemies, chests and your own models live, edit quests, scenes, islands and new dungeons. Islands exported for Blender are your own copy of the game’s content and must not be shared or put into mods. - How to write and submit a mod: ZeldaWWHDMods: creating a mod; SDK reference in the port’s
docs/mod-sdk-v2.md.
Mods in the GameCube Wind Waker Recomp
The GameCube recompilation cannot apply code mods to the recompiled game at runtime, so its mods are translated and built into the app and switched on and off in the options: widescreen 16:9 and 16:10 with the HUD placed for the wider picture, Better Wind Waker (Wind Waker HD’s quality-of-life changes such as Swift Sail and instant text) and Dolphin-format HD texture packs for GZLE01, such as Hypatia’s, which you add yourself. Climbing, save states, quick doors and the cameras are part of that app itself.
Frequently asked questions
How do I install mods in Wind Waker HD Recomp?
In the game: Settings (F1) › Mods. Built-in options are switched on there; community mods from the ZeldaWWHDMods catalogue install from the same menu, and packages, Cemu graphics packs and GameCube model packs install with “Install from a file”. Your saves are backed up before a mod is switched on.
Do Cemu graphics packs work?
The README lists Cemu graphics packs among the community content the mod manager can import, next to the catalogue and other packages. Experimental ones only show with “Show experimental mods” turned on.
Is there a 60 fps mod?
No mod needed: frame interpolation to 60, 120 or 240 fps (and a 40 fps mode) is built in. The game logic stays at 30 fps, so the game plays exactly as on the console. An experimental generated 60 fps mode exists on Vulkan.
Can I play a randomizer?
Yes, since v0.5.1. Setup (and, in the development build, Settings › Randomizer) makes a randomized game from a preset, seed name or permalink, or imports a seed made with the TWWHD Randomizer 1.2.0. Each randomized game has its own saves; seeds from 1.1.1 and older are refused.
Do code mods need recompiling the game?
The first time a code mod is switched on, the game is rebuilt once (a few minutes). After that, the port translates and compiles each mod with the compiler it already has, without translating the game again. One mod package works on macOS, Windows and Linux.
Can I use HD texture packs with the GameCube recomp?
Wind Waker Recomp (GameCube) supports Dolphin-format texture packs for GZLE01, such as Hypatia’s HD pack, which you add yourself. Those are a different format from the HD recomp’s mods.