UltraTears 0.2.0: Tears of the Kingdom Built From Your Own Dump

By Indie Kings | November 3, 2026

Updated November 3, 2026: UltraTears 0.2.0 builds a native PC version of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom from your own 1.4.3 dump. It adds a launcher, a Linux and Steam Deck path, 60 fps at the proper game speed, and shader compilation during preparation instead of during play. The release arrived on November 1.

Image: UltraTears cover art. Source: kuraeow/ultratears.

Static translation, not emulation

UltraTears does not emulate a Switch. It takes the game's code and translates it to native code ahead of time, then builds a PC executable around it. The shaders and textures are prepared when the game is built, not while you play. The result is a Windows or Linux program that runs Tears of the Kingdom natively, using your own dump of version 1.4.3 as the source.

That distinction shapes everything about the project. An emulator has to reproduce a console's hardware closely enough for an unmodified game to run. A static translation can specialize: it knows the game, it knows the target PC, and it can compile shaders for the actual graphics card before the first frame. The trade-off is that the translation is tied to one game version. UltraTears supports 1.4.3 only, and the dump has to be plain exefs and romfs folders extracted from your own console.

The repository contains no game code, assets, shaders, textures, fonts, keys or firmware. The source holds addresses, hashes and short instruction replacements, and everything else is made from your dump on your PC. The project says it decrypts nothing, provides no dumping tools, and does not include Nintendo SDK code or headers. The system and graphics layers are its own. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo.

The project appeared on October 25, 2026, and has 596 stars, 32 forks, 37 open issues, a GPL-3.0 licence and a repository of about 5.3 MB. The first public build was 0.1.0-beta on October 25 and was downloaded 8,224 times. Version 0.2.0 arrived on November 1 and had 1,498 downloads at the time of writing. Those numbers describe a young project with a large audience, which is a combination worth treating carefully.

What 0.2.0 adds

The biggest change is a launcher. Version 0.1.0 used setup.bat and a console window. Version 0.2.0 replaces that with UltraTears Launcher.exe, where you choose the folder holding exefs and romfs, click Prepare the game, and later click Play. Settings, updates and a full rebuild live in the same window.

Linux and the Steam Deck are now a real target, marked experimental. You can download the AppImage, make it executable, and prepare the game on the Deck itself. On Windows, the launcher can also prepare a Steam Deck build, which produces a tar file of about 28 GB to extract on the Deck. Once prepared, the AppImage can be added to Steam as a non-Steam game, and adding the play flag in its launch options starts the game directly in Gaming Mode without showing the launcher.

Performance work is the second theme. The game targets 60 fps at the proper game speed with even frame pacing, and the release notes describe up to 240 fps as a beta. Resolution and screen shape are configurable, FSR 1 handles scene scaling, and sharpening and an FPS counter are included. Because every shader is compiled for your graphics card during preparation, the release claims no shader stutter during play.

AMD users get two fixes: the black screen on Windows and a possible fix for flickering fog. The Depths now draw properly on Windows, and a crash after the bats at the start of the game is fixed. Texture loading is faster, memory use is lower, downloads are smaller, and CPUs without AVX2 are supported. The launcher finds new versions itself and rebuilds only what changed, while saves in the userdata folder are kept.

The known issues list is short and specific. On the Steam Deck, the Depths' ground is missing and the frame rate drops in busy places. Some cloth tears. The mouse does not move the camera yet. Those are useful limits to know before starting: the game is playable, but it is not finished, and the Deck build is explicitly experimental.

The dump, the build and the 30 minute wait

Preparation is the part that separates UltraTears from a normal PC install. You need a dump with an exefs folder containing files such as main, subsdk0, sdk and main.npdm, and a romfs folder of about 304,000 files and 16 GB. The launcher takes that folder and builds the game. On a typical machine the first build takes about 30 minutes.

On Windows, download the zip of roughly 150 MB, extract it into its own folder, and start the launcher. SmartScreen may warn because the executable is not signed; the README gives the More info and Run anyway path. Choose the dump folder, click Prepare the game, wait, then click Play. On Linux, download the AppImage of roughly 210 MB, enable Allow executing file as program in the file's properties, and run it. The same prepare step applies.

To play on a Steam Deck, you have two routes. Prepare the game on the Deck from the AppImage, or choose the Linux or Both platforms option on a Windows PC and copy the resulting tar to the Deck. The second route is useful if the Deck's storage or thermals make a 30 minute build awkward. Either way, the prepared game lives in its own folder, and the AppImage can be launched from Steam in Gaming Mode.

Updates are incremental. The launcher checks for a new version and rebuilds only what changed, and the userdata folder keeps saves across the rebuild. On Linux you can also replace the AppImage in the game folder with a newer one, and the launcher offers the update. That is a better update path than rebuilding from scratch every time, especially on a handheld.

Building from source is possible but not the normal route. You need Git and Python 3, then run python tools/setup.py with the dump path as its argument. The setup downloads the tools it lacks and produces a complete game folder in build, launcher included, matching a release. Without the dump argument it looks for a dump folder in the repository. The project's BUILDING.md covers the options and the Linux details.

SteamOS 3 meets the Linux kernel and glibc requirements, which is why the Deck is a supported target even though it is experimental. The 16 GB RAM and 4 GB VRAM figures are minimums, not recommendations for high resolutions. The project does not publish a frame-rate table by GPU, so a machine that meets the minimum should be treated as a starting point rather than a promise of 60 fps everywhere.

Requirements, controls and known issues

The controller layout follows the Switch, so A is the right-hand button. Keyboard controls are WASD to move, arrow keys for the camera, J for A, K or Space for B, I for X, U for Y, Q and E for the shoulder buttons, Alt and Shift for the triggers, Enter for plus, and Tab or Escape for minus and the map. T, F, G and H cover the d-pad, Z and C press the sticks, and F11 or Alt and Enter toggles full screen. Mouse camera support is planned but not present.

The legal boundary is worth repeating because it is stricter than some similar projects. UltraTears includes no game data and no translated game code in its releases. The build reads your dump, and the output stays on your PC for your own use. The README tells users not to share what they make. The name, emblem, icon and cover are the author's own work and are not under the GPL, while the rest of the project is GPL-3.0.

The known issues are the practical limits. On the Steam Deck, the Depths' ground is missing and busy areas drop frames. Some cloth tears. The mouse does not move the camera. On Windows, the AMD black screen is fixed, but the fog flicker fix is described as possible rather than certain. The project asks for ultratears.log from the game folder with bug reports, which is the right first file to attach if something fails.

The version requirement is absolute. UltraTears supports Tears of the Kingdom 1.4.3. A different version, a different region or a dump that is not plain exefs and romfs will not work. The project does not supply keys, firmware or dumping tools, so the dump has to come from your own console and your own copy of the game.

FAQ

Is UltraTears an emulator?
No. It translates the game's code to native code ahead of time and builds a PC executable. Shaders and textures are prepared during the build, so the game does not emulate Switch hardware while it runs.

Does it include the game?
No. The repository and releases contain no game code, assets, keys or firmware. You need your own copy of Tears of the Kingdom 1.4.3, dumped from your own console as exefs and romfs folders.

How long does preparation take?
The first build takes about 30 minutes on a typical machine. Updates rebuild only what changed, and saves in the userdata folder are kept.

Can I play on a Steam Deck?
Yes, but the Deck build is experimental. You can prepare the game on the Deck from the AppImage or build a Steam Deck tar on a Windows PC. The known issues list missing Depths ground and frame drops in busy places on the Deck.

Does it run at 60 fps?
The 0.2.0 release targets 60 fps at the proper game speed with even frame pacing, and describes up to 240 fps as a beta. The actual frame rate depends on the GPU, resolution and scene.

Is mouse camera control supported?
Not yet. The keyboard mapping covers movement, camera, face buttons, shoulders, triggers, d-pad and sticks, but the mouse does not move the camera. The release notes list mouse support as planned.

Bottom Line

UltraTears 0.2.0 is a substantial step for a project that is only days old. The launcher replaces a batch file, Linux and the Steam Deck become real targets, and the move to compile shaders during preparation addresses the stutter that makes native ports feel worse than they should. The 60 fps target, FSR scaling, AMD fixes and the Depths rendering fix all point in the same direction: a port that is trying to behave like a PC game rather than a console game in a window.

The requirements are not small. You need a legitimate 1.4.3 dump, 16 GB of RAM, 4 GB of VRAM, about 40 GB of free space, a Vulkan 1.3 driver, and half an hour for the first build. The Deck build is experimental, the mouse does not control the camera, and some visual issues remain. The project is also young enough that the issue tracker is part of the experience.

Our take: this is worth trying if you already own the game, can produce a clean 1.4.3 dump, and want a native Windows or Linux build rather than an emulator. Start on Windows if you have the choice, use the launcher, and keep the log handy. On the Deck, treat it as an experiment and expect the Depths to look wrong until the known issue is fixed.

Sources

• GitHub kuraeow/ultratears README, installation, requirements, controls, legal notes and known issues, accessed November 3, 2026
• GitHub release 0.2.0, release notes, asset sizes and download count, published November 1, 2026, accessed November 3, 2026
• GitHub release 0.1.0-beta, release notes and download count, published October 25, 2026, accessed November 3, 2026
• GitHub API metadata for kuraeow/ultratears, stars, forks, open issues, creation date, language, size and licence, accessed November 3, 2026

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