Games, folders and files

Game formats #

Files with no extension have their header read first: DLC, title updates, profiles and saves are rejected as games, and only full-game types get in (Games on Demand, Xbox 360 title, arcade, demo and XNA community games).

Game folders #

The library searches each game folder and the folders inside it, up to 12 levels and 100,000 entries. Hidden folders and the *.data folders of GOD games are skipped; a folder inside another one is scanned only once. If the search stops at the limit, the app warns that the list is incomplete.

In library ⋮ menu → Game folders (Android 11 or newer):

• add several folders and see how many games each one has;
• the first folder receives the full games installed from packages (Install here changes which one it is);
• removing a folder only stops the search there; the files stay where they are;
• Create standard folders creates XenDroid/Games, XenDroid/TU and XenDroid/DLC in internal storage (the games folder name follows the app language).

Games no longer in the library lists games seen before that the search no longer finds, with the reason (file moved or deleted, folder unavailable, file outside the folders). Where is it now? opens the folder browser near the old path; Remove from the list only hides the game.

Compress to .zar #

Only for ISO games, from Details (⋮ menu or Saves and data). The .zar is created in a temporary file, verified and copied next to the .iso. The original .iso stays intact until the app asks whether it can delete it; closing the question keeps the .iso.

Updates and DLC #

The Content area shows what is installed per game (DLC and title updates, with sizes) and installs new packages:

1. In Content → Install, the app lists the packages found in Downloads and in the content folders (including subfolders), or you choose the file.
2. It checks which game the package belongs to and its type: DLC, title update or full game. Packages are recognized by the CON , LIVE or PIRS header.
3. The content applies the next time the game starts. A full game (XBLA, GOD) is copied to the first game folder.

Before installing, the app checks that there is enough free space with a 10% margin. When opened from a game, it accepts only DLC and title updates for that game.

Removing content sends it to a trash with a 4 GiB quota shared by all games, where you can restore it or delete it for good. Nothing is deleted automatically; if the trash is full, the app asks you to empty it or delete the item for good. The game files in your folders are never touched.

Patches #

The APK includes the 479 patch files from the Xenia Canary Game Patches catalog, for 305 games, all turned off. In Details, Patches and content shows the game's patches in three groups:

• For your version: the file contains the hash of the executable the game loaded in the last session;
• For other versions: they apply to another version of the game (another title update, for example) and will not be applied to yours;
• No version stated.

Turning on a patch copies the file to the app's patches folder and changes only that patch's is_enabled line. Patches apply from the next time the game starts, and only if they match your game's version. The Apply patches setting (Console and system) turns all of them on or off. You can also import a .patch.toml file of your own, for the same Title ID, which the app checks before accepting it.

Configuration files #

The app stores settings in the files the emulator core reads:

• The global config receives the settings from Settings. On first launch, the app creates it from the default_config.toml template included in the APK.
• Each game with its own settings has a config/<TITLE ID>.config.toml file, with only the keys that change. The Title ID is in uppercase.
• The priority order, from weakest to strongest: core default, global config, automatic per-game fixes and the game's file.

A game file has this format, which the simulator generates the same way:

# Game-specific config overrides
# Title ID: 4D5309C9

[Display]
postprocess_scaling_and_sharpening = 'fsr'

[GPU]
framerate_limit = 30

Each key goes in the section ([GPU], [Display]…) where the core looks for it; in the wrong section, or with a value of the wrong type, the core ignores the value. The app writes text in single quotes, numbers without quotes and true/false for on and off.

Settings backup #

Settings → App → Data and backup → Back up or move settings exports a ZIP (xendroid-settings-<date>.zip) with:

• the global config and the per-game configs;
• the touch controls layout;
• favorites, library order and collections;
• your compatibility notes.

Saves, profiles, games, drivers, LSFG data, logs and play history are not included. Paths that only work on the original device (storage folders and the custom driver) are left out too. When you import, the app first shows what will change and keeps a backup of the current settings, so you can undo it.

External frontends #

Other apps (ES-DE, Daijishō, Beacon and similar) can open a game directly in Xendroid+. The component is xendroid.compose.EmulatorHostActivity, in the installed package (xendroid.compose.fork in the published APK), with the action xendroid.intent.action.xendroid or android.intent.action.VIEW. The game is passed, in this order:

1. in the game_uri string extra;
2. in the AutoStartFile extra (the Dolphin convention);
3. in the intent's data URI.

The value can be an absolute path (the safest option), file:// or content://. For example, with adb:

adb shell am start -n xendroid.compose.fork/xendroid.compose.EmulatorHostActivity \
  -a xendroid.intent.action.xendroid \
  --es game_uri '/storage/emulated/0/Games/Xbox 360/Game.iso'

One process runs only one game; another request while a game is open goes to the existing session. Frontends cannot pass the Start with… options. On Android 10, this is the only way to open games.