Hookshot (NotRexed/Hookshot) is an open-source, clean-room static recompilation of the Nintendo Switch 2 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Windows x64 and Linux x86_64. Built on an ahead-of-time ARM64 NSO lifter (160,641 functions across 399 C shards) and a Vulkan 1.3 mesh-shader renderer (8,243 translated SPIR-V shaders), Hookshot v2.0.11 runs natively on desktop and Steam Deck hardware using your own legally dumped Switch 2 title (0400486024DEC000 v131072, ExeFS SHA-1 prefix e0f3ccfa).
Filter all 10 verified Hookshot v2.0.11 readiness specifications by hardware architecture, operating system, handheld APU, or story progression milestone. Inspect required Vulkan 1.3 extensions, VRAM budgets, and launch flags before running HookshotBuilder.
Full hardware VK_EXT_mesh_shader support across Turing, Ampere, Ada Lovelace, and Blackwell GPUs with native DLSS Super Resolution.
Supports Vulkan 1.3 and hardware mesh shaders; use RX_VK_ASTC_RGBA8=1 if blocky ASTC foliage or HUD corruption appears on Adrenalin or older RADV drivers.
Supports hardware VK_EXT_mesh_shader and Intel XeSS 1.3 upscaling on discrete Arc GPUs with 6 GB to 16 GB VRAM.
Runs via the Linux x86_64 AppImage on SteamOS 3.6+ at 1280x800 (30-45 FPS); requires RX_VK_MESH_NOCULL=2c56dc1006942f74 to avoid the Inside the Deku Tree RADV hang.
Unsupported for 3D rendering because the Switch 2 Ocarina of Time remake engine relies on NVN2 meshlets that require hardware VK_EXT_mesh_shader.
Primary desktop platform distributed as Hookshot-v2.0.11-Windows-x64.zip (29.7 MB) containing HookshotBuilder.exe and all upscaler runtime DLLs.
Self-contained Hookshot-v2.0.11-Linux-x86_64.AppImage (35.1 MB) tested on Ubuntu 22.04+, Fedora 40+, Arch Linux, and SteamOS 3.6+.
Fully completable from new game creation through all three Spiritual Stones; Steam Deck/RADV users need RX_VK_MESH_NOCULL=2c56dc1006942f74 inside the Deku Tree.
Full day/night cycle, dynamic cascade shadows, Opus 48 kHz environmental audio, and 60/120 FPS actor interpolation across all overworld regions.
End-to-end playable through all five Sage Medallions, Ganon's Tower, final Ganondorf/Ganon boss encounters, and ending credits roll.
Hookshot contains zero Nintendo-owned game assets, textures, audio, or cryptographic keys. Only download official binaries from https://github.com/NotRexed/Hookshot/releases (Windows HookshotBuilder.exe or Linux Hookshot-v2.0.11-x86_64.AppImage); third-party sites bundling pre-extracted ROMs or fake installers are unauthorized. You must supply your own decrypted Switch 2 base + update v131072 dump (Title ID 0400486024DEC000, main NSO SHA-1 e0f3ccfa56256410941279ef0b2501356be2222c).
NotRexed/Hookshot distributes Windows builds via the lightweight HookshotBuilder.exe bootstrapper (0.2 MB launcher + segmented builder-parts toolchain) and Linux builds via a self-contained x86_64 AppImage (205.5 MB). Compare the latest stable and release-candidate milestones below or open the full 10-build ledger on the Download page.
Observed GitHub release telemetry on v2.0.11: HookshotBuilder.exe (50,144 downloads), Hookshot-v2.0.11-x86_64.AppImage (10,151 downloads), hookshot-setup.txt (36,046 downloads), hookshot-linux.txt (3,788 downloads).
Re-enables VRAM write-back diffing (RX_VK_WB_DIFF=1 by default) while keeping the separate present queue off; restores ~48 FPS at 3440x1440 on RTX 4060 Ti vs ~36 FPS on v2.0.9.
Fixes update compile/link failures (#1176, #1197) caused by stale translated C files (undeclared g_module_b or undefined symbol f_8...); failed builds now discard partial generated code.
Mitigates immediate GPU device loss after shader preparation on NVIDIA 621-series drivers (#1161) by reverting separate present queue and write-back diff paths while keeping v2.0.8 ultrawide and startup UI fixes.
Delivers ~25% higher FPS over v2.0.7 via VRAM write-back diffing, adds immediate startup shader progress window (#860), and fixes ultrawide crashes.
Final release candidate for v2.0.8 combining rc.4 changes with a Linux build fix for the VRAM write-back diff implementation.
Intermediate test build on the next branch superseded immediately by v2.0.8-rc.5 after fixing Linux AppImage packaging.
Navigate directly to the four technical engineering manuals covering Switch 2 dump extraction, ahead-of-time ARM64 translation, GPU mesh-shader tiers, and runtime environment variables.
Verify your decrypted Switch 2 dump against ExeFS main NSO SHA-1 e0f3ccfa56256410941279ef0b2501356be2222c, run HookshotBuilder.exe or the Linux AppImage extractor, configure the Insert/F1 options overlay, and convert saves with tools/oot_saves.py.
Examine how Hookshot lifts 51.0 MB of Switch 2 ARM64 machine code into 399 C translation units, intercepts Horizon OS (nn::os, nn::fs, nn::audio) calls in host/, and translates 8,243 Maxwell/Ampere NVN2 shaders into Vulkan 1.3 SPIR-V.
Because the Switch 2 remake engine submits geometry through NVN2 meshlets, hardware VK_EXT_mesh_shader support is mandatory. Compare VRAM presets from 4 GB Low to 10+ GB Max and check why GTX 10-series and RX 5000 GPUs cannot initialize 3D rendering.
Encountering a GPU device loss crash, Steam Deck Inside the Deku Tree freeze, or blocky foliage on AMD Radeon drivers? Apply these verified v2.0.11 launch flags or open the full Troubleshooting index.
Lower Graphics Preset in Insert/F1 menu to Low (4 GB) or Medium (6 GB), reduce render scale to 1.0x, and update to v2.0.11 descriptor pool fix.
graphics_preset=Low/Medium or RX_SKIP_SHADERS=<hash>Set Steam launch options to RX_VK_MESH_NOCULL=2c56dc1006942f74 %command% (or RX_VK_MESH_NOCULL=1 to disable meshlet culling globally).
RX_VK_MESH_NOCULL=2c56dc1006942f74Export RX_VK_ASTC_RGBA8=1 before launching Hookshot to force lossless software RGBA8 decompression instead of compute BC7 transcoding.
RX_VK_ASTC_RGBA8=1Update to Hookshot v2.0.11 (fixes UTF-8 Windows path bug #1176) and supply the merged Switch 2 v131072 dump matching SHA-1 prefix e0f3ccfa.
Require Title ID 0400486024DEC000 v131072 (e0f3ccfa)Unlike traditional console emulators that dynamically translate ARM64 instructions and GPU command buffers at runtime, NotRexed/Hookshot performs ahead-of-time (AOT) static recompilation against the Nintendo Switch 2 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Title ID 0400486024DEC000, required update version v131072). During the build phase, the nx2/a64_lifter disassembles the 51.0 MB main NSO binary (verified by SHA-1 prefix e0f3ccfa) plus the secondary module into 160,641 standalone C functions partitioned across 399 shard files. These shards are compiled with Clang/LLD into a native x86_64 executable where over 96% of instructions execute directly on the host CPU and the remaining indirect jumps fall back seamlessly to the integrated interpreter.
On the graphics side, the gpu/vk/ subsystem translates all 8,243 proprietary NVN2 shader binaries into standard Vulkan 1.3 SPIR-V modules. Because the Switch 2 remake engine relies on hardware meshlet culling for world geometry, Hookshot requires a Vulkan 1.3 GPU that exposes the VK_EXT_mesh_shader extension (NVIDIA Turing GTX 1650+ and RTX 20/30/40/50 series, AMD RDNA 2/3/4 RX 6000/7000/9000 series, Intel Arc Alchemist/Battlemage, and Steam Deck RADV). Version v2.0.11 re-enables VRAM write-back diffing (RX_VK_WB_DIFF=1 by default) while keeping the separate present queue disabled, restoring ~48 FPS at 3440x1440 on an RTX 4060 Ti compared to ~36 FPS on v2.0.9 while retaining the NVIDIA 621-series driver stability fix (#1161).
To maintain strict legal clean-room separation, neither the NotRexed/Hookshot repository nor its release binaries contain any copyrighted Nintendo code, RomFS archives, or encryption keys. Before launching the game on Windows 10/11 x64 or Linux x86_64, you must dump your own legally purchased Switch 2 copy of Ocarina of Time together with update v131072. When you point HookshotBuilder.exe (Windows) or Hookshot-v2.0.11-x86_64.AppImage (Linux) at your decrypted dump directory, the builder validates that the ExeFS main NSO matches SHA-1 e0f3ccfa56256410941279ef0b2501356be2222c before extracting RomFS assets and linking the local executable.
Once compilation finishes, pressing Insert or F1 inside the game opens the native Hookshot configuration overlay. From this menu you can switch between NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution (NGX SDK 310.9.16), AMD FSR 3.1 (FidelityFX SDK 1.1.4), Intel XeSS, or native TAA; unlock frame rates from 30 FPS to 60 FPS or 120 FPS; adjust ultrawide 21:9 and 32:9 aspect ratios; and tune the Graphics Preset (Low for 4 GB VRAM, Medium for 6 GB VRAM, High for 8 GB VRAM, and Max for 10+ GB VRAM).
Hookshot requires the decrypted Nintendo Switch 2 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time with Title ID 0400486024DEC000 updated to patch v131072. The ExeFS main NSO binary must match SHA-1 prefix e0f3ccfa (full hash e0f3ccfa56256410941279ef0b2501356be2222c). N64, GameCube, 3DS, and unpatched v0 Switch 2 dumps are not supported.
The Switch 2 remake engine renders environments and actors using NVN2 mesh shader pipelines. Hookshot translates those 8,243 shaders directly to Vulkan 1.3 SPIR-V mesh shaders, which requires hardware VK_EXT_mesh_shader support (NVIDIA GTX 16 / RTX 20+, AMD RX 6000+, Intel Arc, or Steam Deck APU). Older GPUs like GTX 10-series (Pascal) and RX 5000 (RDNA 1) lack hardware mesh shaders.
On Steam Deck (SteamOS 3.6+ / Mesa RADV), set your Steam launch options to RX_VK_MESH_NOCULL=2c56dc1006942f74 %command% to bypass meshlet subgroup culling on shader 2c56dc1006942f74 inside the Deku Tree.
Primary source for Title ID 0400486024DEC000 v131072, build ID e0f3ccfa, and system requirements.
Primary source for HookshotBuilder.exe, Linux x86_64 AppImage payloads, and RX_VK_WB_DIFF=1 release notes.
Primary source for 160,641 lifted ARM64 functions, 399 C shards, 8,243 NVN2 shaders, and debug environment variables.