Triforge — A Link to the Past PC Engine | HD, Randomizer & Modding
TRIFORGE — A Link to the Past PC Engine | HD Enhancements, Randomizer & Modding
Discover Triforge, a native PC engine for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, built with C#, .NET, and MonoGame.
https://youtu.be/gn8Jto4CTRw?si=tfc2uRchUGjG_aiy
Triforge brings new possibilities to this classic adventure while preserving the original experience. Without enhancements or mods, the game behaves exactly like the original, including its original bugs.
This is not an emulator. The original game's logic runs as native code.
Triforge is based on the incredible work of the zelda3 project by snesrev, whose C reimplementation of A Link to the Past made this project possible. I ported that code line by line to C# and built the enhancements and modding system around it.
✨ HD Enhancements
All enhancements are optional and can be adjusted in real time, directly in-game.
- 16:9 widescreen support
- HD Water: animated waves, character and sky reflections, sunlight sparkles, caustics, foam, and lake mist
- HD Lighting: soft light halos from lanterns and other light sources
- Dynamic atmosphere: moving cloud shadows, soft shadows, and Dark World miasma
- HD World Map
- No sprite limit
- Full HD settings menu accessible while playing
Included Mods
Triforge includes several mods demonstrating what its modding system can do:
Music Packs
Play with community MSU-1 and MSU Deluxe soundtracks, preview tracks, mix music packs, and choose between instant transitions and crossfades. Supports PCM, FLAC, OGG, OPUS, MP3, and WAV.
Randomizer
Generate seeds locally with alttpr.com settings, share them using a unique 7-item icon code, and keep separate seeds and rules for each save slot. Also supports imported alttpr.com JSON seeds.
Map Editor
Edit the world directly in-game with F9. Paint tiles, place objects, characters, doors, and teleporters, create new maps, and export your creations as Map Packs.
Link Sprite Swap
Choose from hundreds of community-created .zspr character sprites, with animated previews and individual appearances for each save slot.
Enhanced Inventory
A redesigned inventory featuring an item selection ring around Link.
KeyConfig
Customize keyboard and controller bindings.
The Modding System — The Heart of Triforge
This is the part of the project I'm most excited about.
Triforge includes a C# modding API designed to let creators go far beyond simple visual changes.
Mods can interact with the game's events, characters, enemies, world, inventory, dialogue, graphics, audio, and save data.
They can introduce entirely new enemies, items, dungeons, worlds, game mechanics, scripted scenes, and HD interfaces.
Some examples shown in this video were created using the modding system:
- Dynamic weather: rain, thunderstorms, snow, and fog
- Changing seasons
- Day/night cycle with monsters appearing at night
- Turn-based RPG-style battles
These are just examples of what the system can do.
My biggest hope is that Triforge will inspire creators to build new adventures, unexpected mechanics, and perhaps even entirely different games.
Complete modding API documentation will be included with the engine.
Release — Coming Soon
Triforge is currently in its final stages of development.
I'm finishing the last adjustments and spending extra time refining the modding API to make it as complete, flexible, and useful as possible.
The modding possibilities are what excite me most, and I want to give creators the best foundation I can before releasing it.
Coming soon.
Important — ROM Required
YOU MUST PROVIDE YOUR OWN THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST ROM.
TRIFORGE DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY NINTENDO ROM, GAME DATA, GRAPHICS, MUSIC, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY NINTENDO ASSETS.
Triforge is an independent, unofficial fan project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with Nintendo.
Credits — Original zelda3 Project
Triforge is built upon the work of the zelda3 project by snesrev.
The original project's contributors reconstructed A Link to the Past in C through reverse engineering. Their work is the foundation of Triforge and deserves full recognition.
Original zelda3 GitHub repository:
snesrev/zelda3
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to that project. Without their work, Triforge would not exist.
I hope you'll enjoy Triforge, but above all, I hope the community will take it further than I ever could on my own.
What kind of mod would YOU create?
Share your ideas and questions in the comments. I'd love to hear them!
#Triforge #ALinkToThePast #Zelda3 #ZeldaModding #Romhacking #GameEngine #MonoGame
14 points · 6 comments
[Release] Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 – A graphical installer and configuration tool for Zelda 3 (Linux & Windows)
Hello everyone! 👋
I'm happy to introduce Z3-Launcher, a new open-source graphical launcher for Zelda 3, the native PC port of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past developed by the snesrev project.
The goal is simple: make Zelda 3 easier to install, configure, update and play on Linux and Windows, without having to compile the game or manually edit configuration files.
Z3-Launcher is written in Rust and provides a graphical interface inspired by the Zelda universe.
🎮 What can Z3-Launcher do?
- Easy installation: Automatically downloads the latest compatible Zelda 3 release and generates the required game assets from your own original US ROM.
- One-click updates: Update the game while preserving your configuration, save files and additional resources.
- Graphical configuration: Customize gameplay, graphics, audio, keyboard and gamepad controls without editing configuration files manually.
- Controller support: Configure your gamepad, remap buttons and capture inputs directly from the launcher.
- Graphics and shaders: Configure display options, fullscreen mode, rendering settings and compatible GLSL shaders.
- Built-in INI editor: Advanced users can directly edit zelda3.ini within the application.
- Multilingual interface: English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.
- Portable mode: Keep your game installation and preferences together for easier portability.
🖥️ Supported platforms
Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 is available for:
- Linux: Native binary, AppImage and experimental Flatpak.
- Windows: 64-bit executable.
Precompiled packages are provided, so you don't need to install development tools or compile anything yourself.
🗡️ Do I need the original game?
Yes. You must provide your own compatible US version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES).
Z3-Launcher extracts the required assets locally from your ROM. No Nintendo ROMs or copyrighted game assets are distributed with the project.
🌱 Open source
Z3-Launcher is released under the GPL-3.0-or-later license.
It builds upon the original Zelda 3 Launcher concept by RadzPrower and works with the native Zelda 3 project maintained in my fork of snesrev/zelda3.
This is the first stable release, and feedback, bug reports and contributions are very welcome!
I hope this tool will make the excellent Zelda 3 PC port more accessible, especially for Linux users and anyone who prefers a simple graphical interface over command-line installation.
🔗 Download Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 on GitHub:
github.com/legluondunet/Z3-Launcher/releases/late…
Project created by legluondunet assisted by OpenAI
1 comment
[Release] Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 – A graphical installer and configuration tool for Zelda 3 (Linux & Windows)
Hello everyone! 👋
I'm happy to introduce Z3-Launcher, a new open-source graphical launcher for Zelda 3, the native PC port of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past developed by the snesrev project.
The goal is simple: make Zelda 3 easier to install, configure, update and play on Linux and Windows, without having to compile the game or manually edit configuration files.
Z3-Launcher is written in Rust and provides a graphical interface inspired by the Zelda universe.
🎮 What can Z3-Launcher do?
- Easy installation: Automatically downloads the latest compatible Zelda 3 release and generates the required game assets from your own original US ROM.
- One-click updates: Update the game while preserving your configuration, save files and additional resources.
- Graphical configuration: Customize gameplay, graphics, audio, keyboard and gamepad controls without editing configuration files manually.
- Controller support: Configure your gamepad, remap buttons and capture inputs directly from the launcher.
- Graphics and shaders: Configure display options, fullscreen mode, rendering settings and compatible GLSL shaders.
- Built-in INI editor: Advanced users can directly edit zelda3.ini within the application.
- Multilingual interface: English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.
- Portable mode: Keep your game installation and preferences together for easier portability.
🖥️ Supported platforms
Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 is available for:
- Linux: Native binary, AppImage and experimental Flatpak.
- Windows: 64-bit executable.
Precompiled packages are provided, so you don't need to install development tools or compile anything yourself.
🗡️ Do I need the original game?
Yes. You must provide your own compatible US version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES).
Z3-Launcher extracts the required assets locally from your ROM. No Nintendo ROMs or copyrighted game assets are distributed with the project.
🌱 Open source
Z3-Launcher is released under the GPL-3.0-or-later license.
It builds upon the original Zelda 3 Launcher concept by RadzPrower and works with the native Zelda 3 project maintained in my fork of snesrev/zelda3.
This is the first stable release, and feedback, bug reports and contributions are very welcome!
I hope this tool will make the excellent Zelda 3 PC port more accessible, especially for Linux users and anyone who prefers a simple graphical interface over command-line installation.
🔗 Download Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 on GitHub:
github.com/legluondunet/Z3-Launcher/releases/late…
Project created by legluondunet assisted by OpenAI
7 points · 1 comment
One of the PRs I made added an option for a modern-zelda-style quick spin attack, but it never got merged before the project died out youtube.com
zelda3#263
1 like
Moon Pearl: an Android port of zelda3 (ALttP reimplementation) with widescreen, rewind, shaders and MSU-1
Hi! I've been working on Moon Pearl, an Android port of snesrev's zelda3, the complete C reimplementation of ALttP. It's not an emulator: the game code runs natively, unchanged except for a few small patches (documented in patches/). Because it's native code rather than emulation, true widescreen is possible.
Features
- Widescreen up to 2:1, filling the screen, plus an optional HUD that moves to the screen edges
- Rewind: hold LT+RT (or a touch button) and drag through the last minute of play
- Image filters: CRT, LCD grid, xBR, OmniScale, or your own RetroArch GLSL shaders, switched live from the pause menu
- Save states with screenshots, chapter select, fast-forward, resume where you left off
- MSU-1 soundtracks (including Deluxe), custom Link sprites, cheats
- Touch controls you can move and resize, controller support with remapping
- No internet permission
Bring your own ROM (US version). The app applies zelda3's own .bps patch on the device to build the game data and doesn't keep the ROM. No game files are distributed, and please don't ask for ROMs.
Source and APK (MIT): DoutorRaposo/moonpearl
Tested on a Galaxy S26 Ultra, S25 Edge, Note 20 Ultra and a Blackview Tab 18.
AI disclosure: I'm a professional developer and this is a side project. I built it with an AI coding assistant (Claude) writing most of the code, while I designed the features, reviewed the code, tested every build on real devices and decided what got merged.
All the hard work of reimplementing the game is snesrev's and the zelda3 contributors'. I only built the Android side around it. Feedback and bug reports are welcome, especially from other devices and handhelds like Retroid and AYN.
76 points · 20 comments
Moon Pearl: an Android port of zelda3 (ALttP reimplementation) with widescreen, rewind, shaders and MSU-1
Hi! I've been working on Moon Pearl, an Android port of snesrev's zelda3, the complete C reimplementation of ALttP. It's not an emulator: the game code runs natively, unchanged except for a few small patches (documented in patches/), which is what makes true widescreen possible.
Features
- Widescreen up to 2:1, filling the screen, plus an optional HUD that moves to the screen edges
- Rewind: hold LT+RT (or a touch button) and drag through the last minute of play
- Image filters: CRT, LCD grid, xBR, OmniScale, or your own RetroArch GLSL shaders, switched live from the pause menu
- Save states with screenshots, chapter select, fast-forward, resume where you left off
- MSU-1 soundtracks (including Deluxe), custom Link sprites, cheats
- Touch controls you can move and resize, controller support with remapping
- No internet permission
Bring your own ROM (US version). The app applies zelda3's own .bps patch on the device to build the game data and doesn't keep the ROM. No game files are distributed, and please don't ask for ROMs.
Source and APK (MIT): DoutorRaposo/moonpearl
Tested on a Galaxy S26 Ultra, S25 Edge, Note 20 Ultra and a Blackview Tab 18.
AI disclosure: I'm a professional developer and this is a side project. I built it with an AI coding assistant (Claude) writing most of the code, while I designed the features, reviewed the code, tested every build on real devices and decided what got merged.
All the hard work of reimplementing the game is snesrev's and the zelda3 contributors'. I only built the Android side around it. Feedback and bug reports are welcome, especially from other devices and handhelds like Retroid and AYN.
69 points · 38 comments
Mentions
Triforge — A Link to the Past PC Engine | HD, Randomizer & Modding TRIFORGE — A Link to the Past PC Engine | HD Enhancements, Randomizer & Modding Discover Triforge, a native PC engine for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, built with C#, .NET, and MonoGame. https://youtu.be/gn8Jto4CTRw?si=tfc2uRchUGjG_aiy Triforge brings new possibilities to this classic adventure while preserving the original experience. Without enhancements or mods, the game behaves exactly like the original, including its original bugs. This is not an emulator. The original game's logic runs as native code. Triforge is based on the incredible work of the zelda3 project by snesrev, whose C reimplementation of A Link to the Past made this project possible. I ported that code line by line to C# and built the enhancements and modding system around it. ✨ HD Enhancements All enhancements are optional and can be adjusted in real time, directly in-game. - 16:9 widescreen support - HD Water: animated waves, character and sky reflections, sunlight sparkles, caustics, foam, and lake mist - HD Lighting: soft light halos from lanterns and other light sources - Dynamic atmosphere: moving cloud shadows, soft shadows, and Dark World miasma - HD World Map - No sprite limit - Full HD settings menu accessible while playing Included Mods Triforge includes several mods demonstrating what its modding system can do: Music Packs Play with community MSU-1 and MSU Deluxe soundtracks, preview tracks, mix music packs, and choose between instant transitions and crossfades. Supports PCM, FLAC, OGG, OPUS, MP3, and WAV. Randomizer Generate seeds locally with alttpr.com settings, share them using a unique 7-item icon code, and keep separate seeds and rules for each save slot. Also supports imported alttpr.com JSON seeds. Map Editor Edit the world directly in-game with F9. Paint tiles, place objects, characters, doors, and teleporters, create new maps, and export your creations as Map Packs. Link Sprite Swap Choose from hundreds of community-created .zspr character sprites, with animated previews and individual appearances for each save slot. Enhanced Inventory A redesigned inventory featuring an item selection ring around Link. KeyConfig Customize keyboard and controller bindings. The Modding System — The Heart of Triforge This is the part of the project I'm most excited about. Triforge includes a C# modding API designed to let creators go far beyond simple visual changes. Mods can interact with the game's events, characters, enemies, world, inventory, dialogue, graphics, audio, and save data. They can introduce entirely new enemies, items, dungeons, worlds, game mechanics, scripted scenes, and HD interfaces. Some examples shown in this video were created using the modding system: - Dynamic weather: rain, thunderstorms, snow, and fog - Changing seasons - Day/night cycle with monsters appearing at night - Turn-based RPG-style battles These are just examples of what the system can do. My biggest hope is that Triforge will inspire creators to build new adventures, unexpected mechanics, and perhaps even entirely different games. Complete modding API documentation will be included with the engine. Release — Coming Soon Triforge is currently in its final stages of development. I'm finishing the last adjustments and spending extra time refining the modding API to make it as complete, flexible, and useful as possible. The modding possibilities are what excite me most, and I want to give creators the best foundation I can before releasing it. Coming soon. Important — ROM Required YOU MUST PROVIDE YOUR OWN THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST ROM. TRIFORGE DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY NINTENDO ROM, GAME DATA, GRAPHICS, MUSIC, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY NINTENDO ASSETS. Triforge is an independent, unofficial fan project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with Nintendo. Credits — Original zelda3 Project Triforge is built upon the work of the zelda3 project by snesrev. The original project's contributors reconstructed A Link to the Past in C through reverse engineering. Their work is the foundation of Triforge and deserves full recognition. Original zelda3 GitHub repository: snesrev/zelda3 A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to that project. Without their work, Triforge would not exist. I hope you'll enjoy Triforge, but above all, I hope the community will take it further than I ever could on my own. What kind of mod would YOU create? Share your ideas and questions in the comments. I'd love to hear them! #Triforge #ALinkToThePast #Zelda3 #ZeldaModding #Romhacking #GameEngine #MonoGame
[Release] Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 – A graphical installer and configuration tool for Zelda 3 (Linux & Windows) Hello everyone! 👋 I'm happy to introduce Z3-Launcher, a new open-source graphical launcher for Zelda 3, the native PC port of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past developed by the snesrev project. The goal is simple: make Zelda 3 easier to install, configure, update and play on Linux and Windows, without having to compile the game or manually edit configuration files. Z3-Launcher is written in Rust and provides a graphical interface inspired by the Zelda universe. 🎮 What can Z3-Launcher do? - Easy installation: Automatically downloads the latest compatible Zelda 3 release and generates the required game assets from your own original US ROM. - One-click updates: Update the game while preserving your configuration, save files and additional resources. - Graphical configuration: Customize gameplay, graphics, audio, keyboard and gamepad controls without editing configuration files manually. - Controller support: Configure your gamepad, remap buttons and capture inputs directly from the launcher. - Graphics and shaders: Configure display options, fullscreen mode, rendering settings and compatible GLSL shaders. - Built-in INI editor: Advanced users can directly edit zelda3.ini within the application. - Multilingual interface: English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. - Portable mode: Keep your game installation and preferences together for easier portability. 🖥️ Supported platforms Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 is available for: - Linux: Native binary, AppImage and experimental Flatpak. - Windows: 64-bit executable. Precompiled packages are provided, so you don't need to install development tools or compile anything yourself. 🗡️ Do I need the original game? Yes. You must provide your own compatible US version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES). Z3-Launcher extracts the required assets locally from your ROM. No Nintendo ROMs or copyrighted game assets are distributed with the project. 🌱 Open source Z3-Launcher is released under the GPL-3.0-or-later license. It builds upon the original Zelda 3 Launcher concept by RadzPrower and works with the native Zelda 3 project maintained in my fork of snesrev/zelda3. This is the first stable release, and feedback, bug reports and contributions are very welcome! I hope this tool will make the excellent Zelda 3 PC port more accessible, especially for Linux users and anyone who prefers a simple graphical interface over command-line installation. 🔗 Download Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 on GitHub: github.com/legluondunet/Z3-Launcher/releases/late… Project created by legluondunet assisted by OpenAI
[Release] Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 – A graphical installer and configuration tool for Zelda 3 (Linux & Windows) Hello everyone! 👋 I'm happy to introduce Z3-Launcher, a new open-source graphical launcher for Zelda 3, the native PC port of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past developed by the snesrev project. The goal is simple: make Zelda 3 easier to install, configure, update and play on Linux and Windows, without having to compile the game or manually edit configuration files. Z3-Launcher is written in Rust and provides a graphical interface inspired by the Zelda universe. 🎮 What can Z3-Launcher do? - Easy installation: Automatically downloads the latest compatible Zelda 3 release and generates the required game assets from your own original US ROM. - One-click updates: Update the game while preserving your configuration, save files and additional resources. - Graphical configuration: Customize gameplay, graphics, audio, keyboard and gamepad controls without editing configuration files manually. - Controller support: Configure your gamepad, remap buttons and capture inputs directly from the launcher. - Graphics and shaders: Configure display options, fullscreen mode, rendering settings and compatible GLSL shaders. - Built-in INI editor: Advanced users can directly edit zelda3.ini within the application. - Multilingual interface: English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. - Portable mode: Keep your game installation and preferences together for easier portability. 🖥️ Supported platforms Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 is available for: - Linux: Native binary, AppImage and experimental Flatpak. - Windows: 64-bit executable. Precompiled packages are provided, so you don't need to install development tools or compile anything yourself. 🗡️ Do I need the original game? Yes. You must provide your own compatible US version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES). Z3-Launcher extracts the required assets locally from your ROM. No Nintendo ROMs or copyrighted game assets are distributed with the project. 🌱 Open source Z3-Launcher is released under the GPL-3.0-or-later license. It builds upon the original Zelda 3 Launcher concept by RadzPrower and works with the native Zelda 3 project maintained in my fork of snesrev/zelda3. This is the first stable release, and feedback, bug reports and contributions are very welcome! I hope this tool will make the excellent Zelda 3 PC port more accessible, especially for Linux users and anyone who prefers a simple graphical interface over command-line installation. 🔗 Download Z3-Launcher 1.0.0 on GitHub: github.com/legluondunet/Z3-Launcher/releases/late… Project created by legluondunet assisted by OpenAI
One of the PRs I made added an option for a modern-zelda-style quick spin attack, but it never got merged before the project died out youtube.com zelda3#263
Moon Pearl: an Android port of zelda3 (ALttP reimplementation) with widescreen, rewind, shaders and MSU-1 Hi! I've been working on Moon Pearl, an Android port of snesrev's zelda3, the complete C reimplementation of ALttP. It's not an emulator: the game code runs natively, unchanged except for a few small patches (documented in patches/). Because it's native code rather than emulation, true widescreen is possible. Features - Widescreen up to 2:1, filling the screen, plus an optional HUD that moves to the screen edges - Rewind: hold LT+RT (or a touch button) and drag through the last minute of play - Image filters: CRT, LCD grid, xBR, OmniScale, or your own RetroArch GLSL shaders, switched live from the pause menu - Save states with screenshots, chapter select, fast-forward, resume where you left off - MSU-1 soundtracks (including Deluxe), custom Link sprites, cheats - Touch controls you can move and resize, controller support with remapping - No internet permission Bring your own ROM (US version). The app applies zelda3's own .bps patch on the device to build the game data and doesn't keep the ROM. No game files are distributed, and please don't ask for ROMs. Source and APK (MIT): DoutorRaposo/moonpearl Tested on a Galaxy S26 Ultra, S25 Edge, Note 20 Ultra and a Blackview Tab 18. AI disclosure: I'm a professional developer and this is a side project. I built it with an AI coding assistant (Claude) writing most of the code, while I designed the features, reviewed the code, tested every build on real devices and decided what got merged. All the hard work of reimplementing the game is snesrev's and the zelda3 contributors'. I only built the Android side around it. Feedback and bug reports are welcome, especially from other devices and handhelds like Retroid and AYN.
Moon Pearl: an Android port of zelda3 (ALttP reimplementation) with widescreen, rewind, shaders and MSU-1 Hi! I've been working on Moon Pearl, an Android port of snesrev's zelda3, the complete C reimplementation of ALttP. It's not an emulator: the game code runs natively, unchanged except for a few small patches (documented in patches/), which is what makes true widescreen possible. Features - Widescreen up to 2:1, filling the screen, plus an optional HUD that moves to the screen edges - Rewind: hold LT+RT (or a touch button) and drag through the last minute of play - Image filters: CRT, LCD grid, xBR, OmniScale, or your own RetroArch GLSL shaders, switched live from the pause menu - Save states with screenshots, chapter select, fast-forward, resume where you left off - MSU-1 soundtracks (including Deluxe), custom Link sprites, cheats - Touch controls you can move and resize, controller support with remapping - No internet permission Bring your own ROM (US version). The app applies zelda3's own .bps patch on the device to build the game data and doesn't keep the ROM. No game files are distributed, and please don't ask for ROMs. Source and APK (MIT): DoutorRaposo/moonpearl Tested on a Galaxy S26 Ultra, S25 Edge, Note 20 Ultra and a Blackview Tab 18. AI disclosure: I'm a professional developer and this is a side project. I built it with an AI coding assistant (Claude) writing most of the code, while I designed the features, reviewed the code, tested every build on real devices and decided what got merged. All the hard work of reimplementing the game is snesrev's and the zelda3 contributors'. I only built the Android side around it. Feedback and bug reports are welcome, especially from other devices and handhelds like Retroid and AYN.