ResourcePacks.md 3.7 KB

Dolphin Resource Pack Specification v2

This document is to be used as a reference when creating resource packs or writing programs that are to be capable of handling them.

Format

Dolphin Resource Packs are zip archives with the following file structure:

resource-pack.zip
\__ manifest.json
\__ logo.png (optional)
\__ textures (Directory)
    \__ GAMEID (Directory)
        \___ TEXTURES GO HERE

If you intend to use v1: Your zip file may not be compressed or else your pack will not load (You can create uncompressed zips with software like 7-Zip).
(This is to ensure that loading textures directly from resource packs remains a viable option in the future)

v2: Supports compressed texture packs if compressed is true.

GAMEID can be one or multiple directories which are named after:

  • a complete Game ID (e.g. SMNE01 for "New Super Mario Bros. Wii (NTSC)")
  • one without a region (e.g. SMN for "New Super Mario Bros. Wii (All regions)").

logo.png

The logo you provide has to be in PNG format and should not exceed dimensions of 256x256 pixels. The alpha channel is supported so your logo can be partially transparent.

manifest.json

The manifest.json file contains metadata that helps users identify your resource pack and is therefore mandatory.

Available fields

Identifier Function Required Since
name Name of your texture pack Yes v1
id Alphanumeric identifier for your pack Yes v1
version Version (any string) Yes v1
description Description No v1
authors List of authors No v1
website Link to your website(with protocol!) No v1
compressed Allows you to compress your textures (1) No v2
  • (1) This will have the side effect that if Dolphin implements loading textures from the texture pack directly, your pack might not be supported

If your manifest doesn't contain all required fields, it won't load.

Example

Here's an example manifest.json that contains all supported fields:

{
"name": "My Texture Pack!",
"id" : "my-texture-pack-by-doe",
"version": "2",
"authors": ["John Doe", "Jane Doe"],
"website": "https://example.com/my-texture-pack",
"description": "A cool texture pack made by me!"
}

Conflicts

If there are conflicts (two texture packs providing the same file), they are resolved using the user-assigned order in which the higher entry in the list always overrides the ones that come afterwards.

Installation

Resource packs are loaded from $DOLPHIN_USER_FOLDER/ResourcePacks.

Removal

Please remove the resource packs via the resource pack manager instead of just deleting them so they don't remain permanently activated.

Activation

The actual installation process (Activation) just copies the contents of the pack's textures directory into $DOLPHIN_USER_FOLDER/Load/Textures.

Deactivation

Texture packs will be removed (Deactivated) by removing their files from $DOLPHIN_USER_FOLDER/Load/Textures.

If there's an active higher priority texture pack that provides the same file as a lower priority one, Dolphin won't remove this file as it has already been overriden.

Migration

If a user performs a migration, pre-resource-pack files that cannot be assigned to any particular pack are combined into a legacy.zip so they can be managed like any other resource pack.