Ship of Harkinian: How to Play Ocarina of Time on PC

Celebrate a fan-made PC port of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time built from decompiled code. Ship of Harkinian (SoH) runs the 1998 classic natively on Windows with modern features like widescreen, 60 fps and mod support.

Ship of Harkinian (SoH) is a clean-room PC port of Ocarina of Time that offers widescreen, uncapped frame rates and modding tools.

• Setup involves downloading the latest SoH release from GitHub and extracting the zip to a folder on your hard drive—never run it from inside the zip or system folders.

• Must use Ocarina of Time 1.0 ROM; incorrect versions will not work (extract if inside .zip file).

• Launch soh.exe, follow prompts to locate your ROM and let the program silently extract assets; the game will start automatically.

• Use a controller for the best experience; remember that SoH is unofficial and still evolving.

What happened (context)

The Harbour Masters development team created Ship of Harkinian by reverse‑engineering the code of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Unlike an emulator, SoH runs the game natively on your PC, enabling enhancements such as higher resolutions, widescreen aspect ratios, 60 frames per second, dynamic lighting, gyro aiming, customizable control schemes and randomizer modes. Because Nintendo still owns the game assets, SoH does not distribute any copyrighted content; instead it relies on you to provide a 1.0 US ROM dumped from your own cartridge.

Why it matters

For preservationists and modders, SoH is a milestone. It makes an all‑time classic accessible without the input lag and limitations of emulators. Modders can add new textures, audio and randomization. However, legal and ethical considerations remain: you must dump your own copy of Ocarina of Time, and the project is not affiliated with Nintendo. Use common sense and respect intellectual property.

Rule Mobile Take

Ship of Harkinian feels like the definitive way to revisit Ocarina of Time: crisp visuals, smooth frame rates and an active mod scene breathe new life into Hyrule. Just remember to acquire your ROM legally and to follow the setup instructions carefully—this is a DIY project, not a plug‑and‑play re‑release.

How to install Ship of Harkinian

1. Download the release: Visit the SoH releases page on GitHub and download the latest Windows, Mac, or Linux build. Extract the zip to a dedicated folder on your hard drive.
   Do not run the game from inside the zip, and avoid extracting to C:\\Windows, Program Files or a cloud‑sync folder.

2. Obtain Game ROM: Download Link here or Follow the ROM Dumping Guide to dump your own Ocarina of Time 1.0 (US) ROM. The SoH readme lists the required CRC/SHA1 checksums; incorrect versions will cause errors.

3. Launch soh.exe: Double‑click soh.exe in your extracted folder. Windows may warn you about unknown files; you can ignore these warnings. When prompted, allow the program to create OTR files. If your ROM is not in the same folder, you’ll be asked to locate it.

4. Extract assets: Select your ROM and let SoH extract the game assets in the background. Errors may appear in the console; as long as the extraction completes and the game launches, you can ignore them. When asked about creating a Master Quest file, choose Yes or No based on your ROM (usually no unless you know what Master Quest is).

5. Play: Once extraction finishes, Ocarina of Time will launch natively on your PC. Adjust settings in the in‑game menu, experiment with mods and enjoy.

CTA

Ready to sail? Download the latest release and join the Ship of Harkinian Discord to share mods and tips.

Sources & Credits

- “Windows Setup Guide” — Ship of Harkinian.