xenia-canary/FAQ.md

System Requirements

• Windows 7+ for Vulkan, Windows 10 for D3D12 (Linux/macOS not natively supported)
• 64-bit x86 processor supporting AVX
• Vulkan compatible GPU from this list or a D3D12 compatible GPU.
• 2017/2019 x64 Visual C++ Redistributable

Xenia will check for the minimum supported CPU and GPU on startup and error out if one is not detected, make sure that you have the latest drivers installed.

Windows Update tends to lag behind, so download GPU drivers from your manufacturer:

• AMD
• NVIDIA
• Intel

The D3D12 renderer is currently unoptimized so expect low FPS.

Xenia doesn't require any system files.

You cannot just remove the checks in the code and assume things will work.

Xenia will never connect to official Xbox Live servers. Connecting to custom servers is a possibility, but won't happen anytime soon.

Xenia will not support OG Xbox games/BC (backwards compatibility) anytime soon. For that there's Cxbx-Reloaded and xqemu.

Can I get an exe?

• d3d12 (D3D12, recommended)
• Master (Vulkan, NOT recommended)

Don't be surprised if there are problems with Vulkan.

Xenia is sometimes detected as a virus. Ignore this, as it is a false positive.

Troubleshooting

Make sure:

• You're not using outdated or invalid launch parameters.
• You downloaded a Release build, not a Checked one.

Saves are broken in a majority of games, especially ones with user profile saves.

As for saves, etc that worked previously in older builds of Xenia, create a text file in the same directory as xenia.exe named portable.txt.

Saves are in Documents\xenia\content by default.

Does Xenia run on Linux or macOS?

Not natively, but Xenia might run with Wine on Linux.

macOS requires MoltenVK support which isn't implemented in Xenia.

How do I legally get games?

See here.

You CANNOT play games directly from the disc drive. The very few disc drives that can read Xbox 360 games require them to be dumped first, and can't be read by xenia directly.

By default Xenia runs ALL XBLA/digital games in demo/trial mode.

To run games in full/activated mode you will have to compile Xenia with mask_ptr = 0xFFFFFFFF instead of 0.

See Quickstart on GitHub

Does game X run?

Check the compatibility list. If it's not there, ask in the Discord #help channel or test it yourself.

Asking for a game to be fixed won't get it fixed any faster.

If you're having problems with the Halo games make sure that you're using a D3D12 build and your GPU supports it.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary does not work.

Xenia is a work in progress so expect issues.

Input

Xenia natively supports XInput controllers, which includes but is not limited to:

• Xbox 360 Controller
• Xbox One Controller

For non-XInput controllers, wrapper(s) will have to be used:

• DS4Windows (Dualshock 4/PS4 controller)
• x360ce x64 (DInput/Generic Controller/M+KB)

You can use the mouse to control the analog/joysticks, and rebind the keyboard controls with x360ce.

Default keyboard layout (click to expand)

Options

To use these options, make a shortcut to xenia.exe, and in the target add a space followed by --launchparameter=value. Successive parameters require spaces. For example: xenia.exe --vsync=false --d3d12_resolution_scale=2

• 2x resolution scaling (up to 1440p) ONLY WITH ROV: --d3d12_resolution_scale=2

ONLY 2X IS SUPPORTED.

• Disable ROV (D3D12 build only) --d3d12_edram_rov=false

For testing only.

• Uncap FPS: --vsync=false

This won't improve the framerate if your PC can't handle running the game at it's normal FPS.

This does not work with the Halo games.

• Vulkan (on D3D12 build): --gpu=vulkan

Vulkan should only be used if D3D12 isn't working. Don't expect it to work as it's currently unsupported.

For all of Xenia's options, see here.

Build tweaks

4:3

To play games in 4:3 you need to build Xenia with video_mode->is_widescreen = 0 instead of 1 here.

See Quickstart on GitHub

Hacks/mods

Ultrawide (21:9, 32:9, etc)

THIS WILL NOT INCREASE RESOLUTION

Ultrawide (21:9, 32:9, etc) hacks are possible. This guide is for rpcs3, but is applicable to Xenia.

Some games like Halo 3 have a more convenient method that doesn't require Cheat Engine (recommended to backup default.xex):

1. Decrypt and decompress default.xex with xextool (game must be extracted first)

2. Replace all 3F E3 8E 39 in default.xex with the desired aspect ratio (Formatted Value) in reverse order using a hex editor. For example, 39 8E 63 40 (32:9) would become 40 63 8E 39*

This won't work for all games. The Cheat Engine method has higher compatibility.

How do I check my FPS?

With an FPS indicator like Rivatuner.

What's the difference between Gameplay and Playable?

Gameplay means the game reaches gameplay, even if the game is unplayable.