LAS Recomp

Important

This project was made almost exclusively with AI. Nearly all of the code, tooling, reverse engineering and documentation in this repository was written by and will be maintained by an AI (Anthropic's Claude, through Claude Code), directed, tested and reviewed by a human. As a huge fan of this game, I made this for myself. Sharing it is a courtesy. If you don't agree with the use of AI or don't trust code written by AI, that is your right, but I'm not interested in the controversy in relation to this project. You may simply ignore this project and its code. As with anything on the internet, you run the code at your own discretion.

LAS Recomp is a static recompilation of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo Switch, 2019) into a native Windows, macOS and Linux application.

Note

Currently supported platforms:

• macOS - Apple Silicon only, Metal graphics backend + MetalFX
• Windows - x86-64 only, Vulkan graphics backend
• Linux - x86-64, Vulkan graphics backend (AppImage)
• Linux aarch64 (ARM) - experimental: built but untested on real hardware; reports welcome (docs/linux.md lists what to include)

Note

No game files are included. LAS Recomp needs your own legally obtained copy of the extracted game files of Link's Awakening v1.0.0, v1.0.1 or v1.1.0. When setting up, choose a folder that contains the exefs and romfs folders, or their contents. Instructions on how to obtain these files will NOT be provided. On first launch the app sets up what it needs, including the actual recompilation locally. No game files, assets or fonts are included. The screenshot shows the start screen after setup; no Nintendo artwork is included until provided by the user.

Project Discord

https://discord.gg/DhrgdYqdcY

Status

This is a beta release. That means bugs are likely, crashes could occur, randomizer seeds could possibly be unsolvable (dungeon room shuffle modes are especially experimental at this point) and some graphics issues remain (especially in wide and ultrawide aspect ratios). This is a work in progress, hence the beta designation. To report a bug or a possible randomizer logic issue, open a GitHub issue - see CONTRIBUTING.md for what to include.

Known issues

Known issues and their status are on the GitHub issues page.

Features

Runs natively

• This is not emulation. It runs natively on Windows, macOS and Linux.
• Unlocked aspect ratio: wider windows show more of the island, up to ultrawide. You can switch back to the original 16:9.
• A start screen where you pick vanilla or a randomizer seed, set up your game files and import fonts.
  • Some text uses fonts built into the Switch. Replacement fonts are used by default, or you can import the Switch fonts from your own hardware for the original look.
• In-game menu: F1, or Minus + Plus on a controller.
• Switch between vanilla and any randomizer seed without restarting.
• Keyboard and controller support, with every button and key remappable.
• Button prompts match your controller: Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo.
• Controllers that aren't recognised can be added with a mapping line (as in SDL_GameControllerDB) in gamecontrollerdb.txt in the data folder.
• Optional 360-degree movement, blur removal and a hidden Hero Mode icon.
• Optional run timer, with LiveSplit support.
• Raise or lower the internal resolution, match your display, or use dynamic resolution.
• Upscaling: MetalFX on macOS, AMD FSR 1 on Windows and Linux.

Randomizer

• In-game seed generator.
• Seed IDs for sharing seeds.
• Separate saves for each seed.
• Full item shuffle.
• Trade Quest shuffle.
• Disable Acorn and Piece of Power drops.
• Bombs and Magic Powder shuffle.
• Hookshot anything: the hookshot grabs onto any wall or object.
• Environment Randomizer.
• Enemy Randomizer, optionally with mini-bosses. More mini-bosses will be added over time.
• Music Randomizer.
• Escape Bottle: every seed starts with it. Use it to warp to the dungeon entrance, or to Marin and Tarin's house outside dungeons.
• Pickup text says which dungeon a key or dungeon item belongs to.
• Potsanity: every pot is a check. Unchecked pots are gold.
• Bushsanity: every bush is a check. Unchecked bushes are gold.
• Digsanity: every diggable tile on the overworld is a check, about 5,000 of them. Holes stay dug so you know where you've been.
• Keysanity: keys for any dungeon can be anywhere.
• Shopsanity: the shop's 6 items are checks. Buy them or steal them.
• Trendsanity: every Trendy Game prize is a check.
• Pets: companions are items in the pool.
  • Rooster: helps with Feather checks.
  • Marin: you need her to get into the desert, unless the desert is open.
  • Ghost: find him to unlock his grave check.
  • Switch or send away companions from the pause menu.
• Boss souls: a boss won't appear until you find its soul.
• Mini-boss souls: the same for mini-bosses.
• Triforce Hunt: collect Triforce pieces instead of waking the Wind Fish.
• Entrance Randomizer: shuffles dungeons, houses, caves and connectors, with a decoupled option.
• Dungeon Room Shuffle: every dungeon is rebuilt from its own rooms each seed.
  • Coupled: going back through a door takes you back where you came from.
  • Decoupled: going back through a door takes you somewhere else.
  • Labyrinth (planned): doors can lead into other dungeons.
  • The map can show how rooms connect as you explore.
• The inventory screen shows your keys, dungeon items, trade items and souls for each dungeon.
• Check tracker on the overworld map.
• Race mode: the spoiler log stays locked until the credits, and the title screen shows a seed hash so racers can check they have the same seed.

Building from source

Every platform needs your own game files (v1.0.0, v1.0.1 or v1.1.0): build first, then use the start screen's game-file setup. make gen then recompiles the game code from your own game files into generated/, and make builds it into its own library next to the app (build/lasgame.*); without it the start screen builds that library itself, as it does for players. Release builds hold none of the game's code: the start screen builds it on each player's machine from their own game files, with the bundled generator (make gen-helper) and compiler (tools/fetch_zig.sh).

macOS

Requirements: Apple Silicon, Xcode command line tools (clang), Homebrew sdl3 and ffmpeg, Python 3.12.

1. Build: make -j10 -> build/lasrecomp. Set up your game files (above), then make gen and make -j10 again.
2. Randomizer: create the Python environment for LAS-Randomizer, from third_party/LAS-Randomizer: python3.12 -m venv venv && venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt.
3. Run: ./build/lasrecomp extracted (start screen) or ./build/lasrecomp extracted --play (straight into the game).
4. Package: make deps (once: SDL3, FFmpeg, keystone and Python from pinned sources, built for macOS 15), make rando-helper (the seed generator as a standalone helper, so players need no Python), make gen-helper and tools/fetch_zig.sh (what the start screen builds the game code with), then make app -> build/LAS Recomp.app (macOS 15+, Apple Silicon) and make dmg -> build/dist/LAS Recomp-<version>-macOS.dmg.

Windows

Requirements: Windows 10+ x86-64, a CPU with AVX2 and a GPU with Vulkan 1.3. More detail in docs/BUILD-windows.md.

1. One-time setup, in PowerShell from the repo root: powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tools\setup_windows.ps1. It installs MSYS2 (UCRT64: clang, make, SDL3, FFmpeg, Vulkan, shaderc), Python 3.12 for the tools and the randomizer (third_party\LAS-Randomizer\venv) and switches the clone to LF line endings.
2. Build, from an MSYS2 UCRT64 shell (or Git Bash with export PATH="/c/msys64/ucrt64/bin:/c/msys64/usr/bin:$PATH"): make -j -> build/lasrecomp.exe. Set up your game files (above), then make gen and make -j again.
3. Run: ./build/lasrecomp.exe extracted, from a shell with C:\msys64\ucrt64\bin on PATH (for the DLLs).
4. Package: make deps-windows (once: LGPL FFmpeg), make rando-helper RANDO_PY="<path to python.org Python 3.12>" (MSYS2's Python has no oead wheel), then make dist -> build/dist/LAS Recomp-<version>-windows.zip.

Linux

Requirements: x86-64 with AVX2 (or aarch64, experimental), a GPU with Vulkan 1.3, clang, SDL 3, FFmpeg, shaderc and Vulkan Memory Allocator from your distribution, Python 3.12. Packages, cross builds and details in docs/linux.md.

1. Build: make -j -> build/lasrecomp. Set up your game files (above), then make gen and make -j again.
2. Run: ./build/lasrecomp extracted.
3. Package: make appimage (this machine's arch; ARCH=aarch64 cross-compiles) or make appimages (both) -> build/dist/LAS Recomp-<version>-linux-<arch>.AppImage, built in Ubuntu 22.04 containers (podman). make smoketest checks the x86-64 AppImage before a release.

Where files live (game files, saves, seeds, settings and logs):

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/com.peiikai.lasrecomp/
• Windows: next to lasrecomp.exe, so keep the LAS Recomp folder somewhere writable (not Program Files).
• Linux: ~/.local/share/lasrecomp/
• You can move it to another folder or drive in Settings > Prelaunch > Data folder.
• LARECOMP_DATA_ROOT=<dir> overrides all of these.
• For a bug report, attach lasrecomp.log from that folder.

Resuming game-code builds

If the game-code build is cancelled or interrupted, Resume game code continues where it stopped. It also resumes by itself the next time LAS Recomp starts. Game Files > Clear build cache removes the build's leftover files without touching the installed game, your game files or your saves.

Credits

Contributors - thank you to everyone who has sent code (GitHub handles, in order of first contribution):

• @dvilelaf - the System language setting (#15), a packaging fix (#10) and the level-transition crash fix (#34)
• @Tensorlong - the fix for the white Link on M1 Macs (#18)
• @mansarip - support for unrecognised controllers (#26)
• @we11adam - the right font for each language (#27) and the Chinese language codes (#25)
• @Maganra - faster graphics checks on Linux (#42)
• @hjqcan - game addresses in one place (#57), settings and Traditional Chinese fixes (#53), much less memory used on Windows (#107), Vulkan fixes (#108, #127, #128), an x86 rounding fix (#115), movie memory fixes (#112), Windows logs (#114), resumable game-code builds (#56), and save fixes (#169, #170, #182)
• @gitarre1234rr5 - controller rumble (#104) and a regression test (#88)
• @rkammoun - the fix for the black walls in the Ukuku Prairie cave on Mac (#215, #216)
• @NevesHenry - a clear message on Linux when no file window can open (#298), and the rumble test running in CI (#299)
• @ky1vstar - a much faster Linux ARM release build (#319)
• @theb0rg - the fix for AMD integrated graphics on Windows (#335)
• @gtf-dot - the game-text font on Linux (#330)

Thanks also to everyone who reports issues and tests builds. Your logs and screenshots find most of the bugs.

LAS-Randomizer - the randomizer at the heart of this project's randomizer features, vendored (with local changes) in third_party/LAS-Randomizer under the MIT license. Huge thanks to its authors and community:

• Owen_Splat - LAS-Randomizer (https://github.com/Owen-Splat/LAS-Randomizer)
• Glan - created the original early builds of the randomizer (https://github.com/la-switch/LAS-Randomizer)
• ProfessorLaw - additional programming
• and everyone who has reported bugs, given feedback or contributed to LAS-Randomizer

Community mods - some options re-implement ideas from these GameBanana mods (re-implemented in the recomp; none of their files are used):

• 360 Controls (And More!) by Owen_Splat - 360-degree movement, blur removal (blur removal patch by theboy181) (https://gamebanana.com/mods/659802)
• XBOX UI by fellow_demo - Xbox button prompts (https://gamebanana.com/mods/540069)
• PS4 UI Buttons by messiahgov - PlayStation button prompts (https://gamebanana.com/mods/324458)
• No Hero Mode Indicator by Boo/Calla - hide the Hero Mode icon (https://gamebanana.com/mods/441172)

Libraries and tools

• SDL 3 - windowing, input, audio (zlib license)
• FFmpeg - movie playback (LGPL)
• Dear ImGui - overlay menu and start screen (MIT)
• Baloo 2 by Ek Type - the start screen's font (SIL Open Font License 1.1, third_party/fonts/Baloo2/OFL.txt)
• BIZ UDPGothic by Morisawa - the game's text on Linux when you haven't imported the Switch fonts: a free font from the same universal-design gothic family as the Switch's UD Shin Go (SIL Open Font License 1.1, third_party/fonts/BIZUDPGothic/OFL.txt)
• DejaVu Sans - the in-game menu and button letters when no system font fits, and the game text's last resort (Bitstream Vera / DejaVu license, third_party/fonts/DejaVu/LICENSE)
• Vulkan Memory Allocator - Windows and Linux renderer (MIT)
• SMAA by Jorge Jimenez, Jose I. Echevarria, Belen Masia, Fernando Navarro and Diego Gutierrez - the anti-aliasing option (MIT, third_party/smaa/LICENSE.txt)
• AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 1 - the Windows and Linux upscaler option, ported to GLSL (MIT)
• oead and evfl - Nintendo file formats, used by LAS-Randomizer
• PyInstaller - packs the seed generator into a standalone helper (GPL 2.0+ with the bootloader exception, which allows distributing the packed program). The helper bundles CPython (PSF License), oead / evfl (GPL 2.0+), Keystone (GPL 2.0; Python bindings BSD), quicktex (LGPL 3), Pillow (MIT-CMU), PyYAML (MIT) and appdirs (MIT)
• Zig - its C compiler (zig cc: Clang and LLD) builds the game code on the player's machine during setup (MIT; LLVM, Clang, LLD: Apache 2.0 with LLVM exceptions)
• The game code generator (tools/gen.py) is packed by PyInstaller into a standalone helper too. It bundles CPython, Capstone (BSD 3-clause; disassembly), Unicorn (GPL 2.0; Python bindings BSD; runs small pieces of code to resolve jump tables) and python-lz4 (BSD 3-clause, with the LZ4 library: BSD 2-clause)
• envytools - NVIDIA GPU documentation used for the shader translator
• An MIT-licensed open-source project's audio renderer and shader instruction decoders (license and copyright notice: third_party/ryujinx/LICENSE.txt) - the audio renderer's reverb is a port of its reverb code and the mixer is modelled on its renderer; its instruction decoders were the bit-layout reference for parts of the shader translator
• Dusklight by the TwilitRealm team (https://github.com/TwilitRealm/dusklight) - design inspiration for the start screen (Play / Settings / Game Files layout)
• SuperMarioWonderRecomp by BelmanteGu (https://github.com/BelmanteGu/SuperMarioWonderRecomp) - its ahead-of-time shader approach is what the first-launch shader preparation follows (a shipped list of shader variants, built on the player's machine from their own game files)
• The Switch homebrew community's documentation (Switchbrew)

Legal

LAS Recomp is a fan project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda and Link's Awakening are trademarks of Nintendo. No game files, game code, assets or fonts are included - not in this repository and not in release builds. You must provide your own legally obtained copy of the game files to play.

License

LAS Recomp's own code (the recompiler tools, the runtime, the randomizer additions) is open source under the MIT License. Third-party components keep their own licenses: LAS-Randomizer (MIT), ported audio renderer code (MIT, see third_party/), Dear ImGui (MIT), Vulkan Memory Allocator (MIT), SMAA (MIT), AMD FSR 1 (MIT), the Baloo 2 and BIZ UDPGothic fonts (SIL OFL 1.1), the DejaVu Sans font (Bitstream Vera / DejaVu license), SDL 3 (zlib), FFmpeg (LGPL 2.1+, linked dynamically), the Zig compiler (MIT; its LLVM / Clang / LLD: Apache 2.0 with LLVM exceptions; its C library headers keep their own licenses), and the generator helpers' bundled libraries listed under Credits (oead / evfl / Keystone in the seed generator and Unicorn in the game code generator are under the GPL, versions in the table below: each helper is a separate program the game runs, and its sources are this repository plus those projects' published sources). The license covers LAS Recomp's code only - it grants nothing for Nintendo's game, which you must supply yourself.

Source code of bundled third-party components

Release builds include these components; their source code for the exact versions shipped is available here:

Component	Version	License	Source
Keystone (seed generator)	0.9.2	GPL 2.0	https://github.com/keystone-engine/keystone/releases/tag/0.9.2
oead (seed generator)	1.3.0	GPL 2.0+	https://github.com/zeldamods/oead/releases/tag/v1.3.0
evfl (seed generator)	1.2.0	GPL 2.0+	https://github.com/zeldamods/evfl/releases/tag/v1.2.0
quicktex (seed generator)	0.2.1	LGPL 3.0	https://github.com/drewcassidy/quicktex/releases/tag/v0.2.1
PyInstaller (packs the seed and game code generators)	6.22.3	GPL 2.0+ with bootloader exception	https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller/releases/tag/v6.22.3
CPython (seed and game code generators)	3.12.14 (macOS), 3.12.10 (Windows), 3.12.15 (Linux)	PSF	https://github.com/python/cpython/releases/tag/v3.12.14, https://github.com/python/cpython/releases/tag/v3.12.10, https://github.com/python/cpython/releases/tag/v3.12.15
Zig (builds the game code during setup; includes LLVM, Clang, LLD)	0.17.0	MIT; LLVM: Apache 2.0 with LLVM exceptions	https://ziglang.org/download/0.17.0/zig-0.17.0.tar.xz
Capstone (game code generator)	5.0.9	BSD 3-clause	https://pypi.org/project/capstone/5.0.9/
Unicorn (game code generator)	2.1.4	GPL 2.0 (Python bindings: BSD)	https://pypi.org/project/unicorn/2.1.4/, https://github.com/unicorn-engine/unicorn
python-lz4 (game code generator; includes LZ4)	4.4.5	BSD 3-clause; LZ4: BSD 2-clause	https://pypi.org/project/lz4/4.4.5/
FFmpeg (LGPL configuration, macOS, Windows and Linux builds)	9.0.2	LGPL 2.1+	https://ffmpeg.org/releases/
SDL 3	3.4.18 (macOS, Windows), 3.4.16 (Linux)	zlib	https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/releases/tag/release-3.4.18, https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/releases/tag/release-3.4.16
shaderc (Windows, Linux: GLSL to SPIR-V; Linux: with glslang, SPIRV-Tools inside)	2026.4 (Windows), 2026.3 (Linux)	Apache 2.0	https://github.com/google/shaderc
libiconv (Windows: used by SDL 3)	1.19	LGPL 2.1+	https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/libiconv/libiconv-1.19.tar.gz
GCC runtime: libgcc, libstdc++ (Windows)	16.2.0	GPL 3.0 with the GCC Runtime Library Exception	https://gcc.gnu.org/
winpthreads (Windows, mingw-w64)	14.0.0	MIT / BSD	https://www.mingw-w64.org/
Baloo 2 font (SemiBold)	1.640	SIL OFL 1.1	https://github.com/EkType/Baloo2
BIZ UDPGothic font (Regular, Linux)	1.05 (Google Fonts)	SIL OFL 1.1	https://github.com/googlefonts/morisawa-biz-ud-gothic, https://github.com/google/fonts/tree/main/ofl/bizudpgothic
DejaVu Sans font (Book, Bold)	2.37	Bitstream Vera license (DejaVu changes public domain)	https://github.com/dejavu-fonts/dejavu-fonts/releases/tag/version_2_37
SMAA (shader and lookup textures, built in)	2013 (repository master)	MIT	https://github.com/iryoku/smaa

The exact build scripts that fetch and build these (with checksums) are in this repository: tools/build_deps_macos.sh, tools/build_deps_windows.sh, tools/linux/build_deps.sh and tools/rando/rando_gen.spec. The Windows build takes SDL 3, shaderc, libiconv and the compiler runtime from MSYS2's UCRT64 packages (https://packages.msys2.org, which links each package's source).