Installer & setup guide

Q: Where are compile logs stored if the build stops?

Check the logs/ directory inside your install/work folder (for example logs/compile.log, logs/dkb_shaders-census.log, and logs/dkb_translator.log), plus dkb.log beside dkb.exe at run time.

How to build Donkey Kong Bananza 1.0.0 or 3.2.0 locally with DKB-Setup.exe, .nup containers, or the command-line toolchain.

Download v0.3.0 Setup guide

Dumps: 1.0.0 & 3.2.0 (v458752)
Inputs: .nup or ExeFS + RomFS
Commit limit: 24 GiB+ rec.
Menu shortcut: F1

Windows x64 desktop workstation for Vulkan 1.3 and DLSS

Supported game dumps & prerequisites

DKB Recomp compiles a standalone executable on your PC from your own copy of Donkey Kong Bananza. Before launching the installer, confirm:

Supported game versions: Base 1.0.0 or update 3.2.0 (title version 458752, the newest). Other updates are refused by their SHA-256 expected hash tables (tools/data/expected-dkb100.json).
Accepted input formats: Either a single .nup container file (the container format used by Eglantine and Eden; if the 3.2.0 update is inside, the installer automatically builds 3.2.0 via tools/extract_nup.py, #59) or extracted ExeFS and RomFS folders (#19).
Clean folder path: Unpack and install into a normal user-writable folder without shell-special characters (for example C:\Games\DKB-Recomp or ~/Games/DKB). In v0.3.0, paths containing shell-special characters are refused upfront before compilation starts (#189).
Memory & page file: Ensure at least 16 GB of RAM and a Windows commit limit above 24 GiB (the installer warns when your commit limit is below 24 GiB).

Windows 10/11 GUI installer workflow (DKB-Setup.exe)

Download DKB-Setup-0.3.0+a5796d9-windows.zip (129.4 MB) from Download & SHA-256 and verify its SHA-256 digest.
Extract the ZIP archive into a clean directory such as C:\Games\DKB-Setup.
Run DKB-Setup.exe. If Windows requests elevation, v0.3.0 displays a clear prompt explaining why.
Choose your dump source—either your .nup file or your ExeFS and RomFS directories—and select an output destination folder.
Wait while the pipeline extracts or verifies ExeFS, packs RomFS, lifts all 180,061 functions in main and sdk to C, lowers Ampere shaders via Eglantine and translates them to SPIR-V, and compiles dkb.exe with Clang.
Launch dkb.exe from your output directory. Press F1 in-game to open the Display, Graphics and Controls settings bar.

Add-on content (DLC) folder layout

Added in v0.2.0: DKB Recomp includes an add-on content (DLC) reader tested against synthetic packs and a real dump. To mount DLC packs, place an aoc-<n> folder directly beside dkb.exe (as documented in docs/dkb-testing.md). Note that in-game DLC behavior is still experimental (#183).

Building manually from source (Windows MSYS2 / CLI)

Developers using the TotK Recomp toolchain (MSYS2 UCRT64 Clang, Ninja, Python 3.12 and the .NET SDK for the shader translator, docs/building.md) can build directly from a checkout of Lucas-blip-png/dkb-pc-recomp:

.venv\Scripts\python tools\build_xlate.py
.venv\Scripts\python recomp\gen.py --exefs <exefs> --out generated\dkb100 --modules main,sdk --patches recomp\patches-dkb100.txt
.venv\Scripts\python tools\dkb_expected.py --exefs <exefs> --name dkb100 --display 1.0.0
.venv\Scripts\python tools\dkb_pack_romfs.py --dir <romfs folder> --out build\extracted\dkb100\romfs
.venv\Scripts\python tools\build_game.py --version dkb100 --expected tools\data\expected-dkb100.json --exefs <exefs> --romfs build\extracted\dkb100\romfs

All generated C and build artifacts stay inside build\ and generated\, which git and tools/check_content.py ignore.

Controllers for DKB Recomp

DKB Recomp recommends a gamepad on Windows, Linux and macOS via its SDL3 Horizon host, with dedicated Controller and Mouse & Keyboard settings tabs plus Bananza action descriptions. These controllers pair cleanly on PC:

Controller	Best For in DKB Recomp	Hardware Advantage	Link
GameSir Cyclone 2	Tunnel punching & 3D camera control	TMR sticks, Hall linear/microswitch triggers, 1000 Hz wireless dongle	View on Amazon
8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless	Desktop Windows & Linux setup	Zero-drift TMR sticks, charging dock, Switch/XInput mode switch	View on Amazon
Sony DualSense	Low-latency USB & SDL3 prompts	Responsive face buttons, crisp D-pad, native SDL3 HID support	View on Amazon
Xbox Wireless Controller	Plug-and-play Windows 10/11	Native Windows XInput & Linux xpadneo pairing with zero setup	View on Amazon

As an Amazon Associate, this site earns from qualifying purchases.

Stepped limestone tiers of the Temple of the Inscriptions surrounded by dense jungle canopy at Palenque — Stepped stone tiers and jungle canopy at Palenque

Macro view of a handheld mainboard PCB and multi-core GPU silicon package — GPU silicon pipeline (Ampere to Maxwell to SPIR-V)

macOS ARM64 preview target (MoltenVK and GfxBackend)

Common questions

What is the difference between building 1.0.0 and 3.2.0 (v458752)?

Base 1.0.0 has the most testing across the tutorial and opening layers. Update 3.2.0 support arrived in v0.2.0 and was expanded in v0.3.0 with native HDR10 (DKB_HDR_NATIVE=1), temporal DLSS, 4K render-target scaling (#152), spin-lock patches (#126), and the smash radial-blur release above 60 fps (#158, #159).

Why did DKB-Setup refuse my work folder path?

In v0.3.0 (#189), the installer refuses paths containing shell-special characters (such as parentheses, ampersands or quotes that break Ninja/Clang subshells) before starting the build. Move the folder to a simple path like C:\Games\DKB.

Where are compile logs stored if the build stops?

Check the logs/ directory inside your install/work folder (for example logs/compile.log, logs/dkb_shaders-census.log, and logs/dkb_translator.log), plus dkb.log beside dkb.exe at run time.