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Alpha 1.5 is out

Released · Linux, Windows and Android

New in 1.5: Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (GBA) joins as a native port — the fifth game, with Link VS, Quick Match, HD packs and touch controls for all five games.

From 1.4: Supersonic Warriors stays, and the launcher now builds its own NimbusProjectDBZ folder with Find My Files and native compressed discs.

See the downloads

Play Taiketsu is live

Site visitsSite visits

Nimbus network

—
stats offlineAwaiting stats

Counts players in Online Lobby, Quick Match, and public server matches across the 5 live cities. Private, LAN, and join-code games aren’t counted.

Live serversoffline

Global server fleet

Expanded in preparation for Alpha 1.6 and beyond. Sixteen server instances across five global regions, plus the Online Lobby — so players can meet closer to home worldwide.

Tap 6 times

16 instances · 5 regions · tap a city

Swipe sideways to spin · tap to charge

16 server instances worldwide

16Server instances
5Global regions
5Live today
11Arriving in Alpha 1.6

North America

7
  • Memphis Live · 1
  • Kansas City Alpha 1.6 · 1
  • Mexico City Alpha 1.6 · 1
  • San Francisco Live · 1
  • San Francisco 2 Alpha 1.6 · 1
  • New York Live · 1
  • New York 2 Alpha 1.6 · 1

South America

1
  • Sao Paulo Alpha 1.6 · 1

Europe

2
  • Amsterdam Live · 1
  • London Live · 1

Middle East & Africa

2
  • Tel Aviv Alpha 1.6 · 1
  • Johannesburg Alpha 1.6 · 1

Asia-Pacific

4
  • Singapore Alpha 1.6 · 1
  • Tokyo Alpha 1.6 · 1
  • Bangalore Alpha 1.6 · 1
  • Sydney Alpha 1.6 · 1

Online Lobby

Live

Matchmaking · Quick Match · Join codes

Markers are approximate locations, not a live status feed. Coastlines: Natural Earth.

GameCube DBZ trilogy · native ports

The Nimbus Recompilation Project (TNRP)

Skip the emulator. Ride the Nimbus.

1 BUDOKAI DISC

YOUR OWN NTSC-U DISC

  • DISCS 3/3
  • TEXTURES 4/4
  • MOVIES 1/1
CONTINUE

Budokai, Budokai 2 and Sagas, each running as its own native core. A hybrid core between recompilation and decompilation, not emulation. All three on Linux (Ubuntu 26.04 for now), Windows and Android, now joined by Supersonic Warriors on Game Boy Advance as a statically recompiled native port. One launcher. HD rendering. Online play.

Click a ball to select · Continue to go · Y switches pageTap a ball to select · Continue to go · scroll to ride the Nimbus

Native. Not emulated.

The Nimbus Recompilation Project (TNRP) runs on a hybrid core that sits between recompilation and decompilation. Each game gets its own native core, and those cores run on a shared Nimbus host and renderer. There's no Dolphin, no emulator and no interpreter emulating the hardware. Every game can be played in Original or Remastered mode, and crossplay has been tested across Linux, Windows and Android. Detailed architecture notes are coming to the site later.

What you get is a standalone game that starts like any other app, renders through a modern GPU pipeline and is built to outrun emulation, with headroom left over for higher resolutions and HD assets.

  • One build for the whole trilogy, one launcher
  • Your own legally obtained disc, nothing else
  • Keyboard, mouse and gamepad out of the box
Sagas, Remastered mode: Goku dashes across the red-rock canyon arena.
Sagas on the native build, in Remastered mode.

Five games. One launcher.

All three GameCube releases (NTSC-U), each ported on its own and all started from the same launcher. Game Boy Advance has joined too: Supersonic Warriors is out now as a native port (from Alpha 1.4), and Taiketsu is out now in Alpha 1.5.

VERSUS
Budokai, Remastered mode: Piccolo lands a high kick on Nappa on the misty plains stage.

Budokai

GameCube · NTSC-U

The one that started the series on GameCube. One-on-one fights, ported to native code.

Ubuntu 26.04 & Android dev builds

VERSUS
Budokai 2, Remastered mode: Gohan's Kamehameha meets Raditz's Double Sunday in a beam struggle on the snowy mountain stage.

Budokai 2

GameCube · NTSC-U

The bigger sequel, with head-to-head online play and crossplay between Linux, Windows and Android.

Ubuntu 26.04 & Android dev builds

2P CO-OP
Sagas, Remastered mode: Goku powers up in a golden aura, kicking up a ring of dust in the canyon arena.

Sagas

GameCube · NTSC-U

The action-adventure entry, with two-player co-op, local or online.

Ubuntu 26.04 & Android dev builds

The originals

The North American GameCube releases these ports are built from. Flip a case to see its back, or open it to see the full cover.

Front cover of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai for Nintendo GameCube, North American (NTSC-U) release: Super Saiyan Goku with Cell, Vegeta and other fighters, with the Dragon Ball Z Budokai logo, the Nintendo GameCube banner, the Atari logo and an ESRB Teen rating.
BudokaiGD7E70 · 2003
Front cover of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 for Nintendo GameCube, North American (NTSC-U) release: Vegito in front of a looming Majin Buu, with the Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2 logo, the Nintendo GameCube banner, the Atari logo and an ESRB Teen rating.
Budokai 2GZ3E70 · 2004
Front cover of Dragon Ball Z: Sagas for Nintendo GameCube, North American (NTSC-U) release: Super Saiyan Goku over black-and-white manga-style artwork, with the Dragon Ball Z Sagas logo, the Nintendo GameCube banner, the Atari logo and an ESRB Teen rating.
SagasGZEE70 · 2005

Also in Alpha 1.5

Front of the box of Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors for Game Boy Advance, North American release: Perfect Cell and Vegeta, Super Saiyan Goku and a grinning Kid Buu around the Dragon Ball Z Supersonic Warriors logo, with the Game Boy Advance banner, the Atari logo and an ESRB Teen rating.
Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic WarriorsGame Boy Advance Released in 1.4 Watch the link versus demo

New in Alpha 1.5

Front of the box of Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu for Game Boy Advance, North American release: a Super Saiyan fighter charging an energy blast in front of three green Cell figures, the Dragon Ball Z Taiketsu logo, the Game Boy Advance banner, the Atari logo, an ESRB Teen rating and the Official Nintendo Seal.
Dragon Ball Z: TaiketsuGame Boy Advance Available in Alpha 1.5 Get the download

Coming soon

Front of the box of Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team for PSP, North American release: Super Saiyan Goku and Vegeta clashing fists below Future Trunks and Gohan, the Dragon Ball Z Tenkaichi Tag Team logo, the PSP banner with “Only On PlayStation”, the Bandai logo and an ESRB Teen rating.
Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag TeamPSP Coming in 1.6
Front of the box of Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road for PSP, North American release: four vertical panels with Cooler, Majin Buu, Goku and Piccolo, the Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai Another Road logo, the PSP banner, the Atari logo and an ESRB Teen rating.
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another RoadPSP Coming in 1.7
Front of the box of Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai for PSP, North American release: Super Saiyan Goku crackling with lightning, the Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai logo, the PSP banner, the Atari and FUNimation logos and an ESRB Teen rating.
Dragon Ball Z: Shin BudokaiPSP Coming soon

New in Alpha 1.4 Out now

Supersonic Warriors is out now

Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors for Game Boy Advance is out now in Alpha 1.4 on Linux, Windows and Android. It's a native port: the game's program is statically recompiled into its own Nimbus game module, with no emulator and no interpreter. Here it is in a link versus between two linked consoles: Goku against Vegeta over the grasslands at the GBA's full 59.73 fps. Console 1 runs at 8x HD with cel shading, console 2 keeps the original 1x picture, so you can see the difference side by side.

  • 8x HD + cel shading
  • 1x classic
  • 2 linked consoles
  • 59.73 fps
Left: Nimbus at 8x HD with cel shading (console 1) · Right: the original 1x GBA picture (console 2). Sound from console 1, muted until you turn it on.

Supersonic Warriors loads as its own game module, just like the three GameCube games, and plays online through the same Quick Match and join codes across Linux, Windows and Android. Bring your own Supersonic Warriors (USA) ROM and link it on the launcher's Z Capsules page. What's new in 1.4

Close-up of the Nimbus launcher's CRT menu with Budokai 2 selected; its dragon ball glows.

One launcher. Every mode.

One window for the whole trilogy. Pick a game, see its status at a glance (ready, no disc, no core) and choose how to play. Keyboard, mouse or gamepad all work, with a CRT filter on top.

  • PLAYStart the game, solo.
  • HOST GAMEGet a join code to share with a friend.
  • JOIN GAMEPaste the code and you're in. Recent hosts are remembered.
  • LOCAL 2 PLAYERSTwo pads, one screen.

Online play

Play over your LAN, or online with a short join code. After each session the launcher shows how it went, including the other player and ping. Sagas plays as two-player co-op; Budokai and Budokai 2 play head-to-head.

Under the hood

The same engine room powers every game in the trilogy.

Nimbus GX Renderer

A modern graphics backend built on Aurora, WebGPU (Dawn) and SDL3. It recreates the GameCube's graphics on today's GPUs.

Nimbus Host

The shared host layer for windowing, input, audio, saves and online play, so each port can stick to the game itself.

Nimbus Core

The game code in each core: the original game logic, carried over into a native core.

Nimbus Port Kit

The tooling that turns a disc into a standalone build, reused across all three games.

HD everything

Higher internal resolutions, AI-upscaled texture packs for all three games and HD movies for Sagas. Grab them in Downloads.

Built to outrun emulation

No emulator overhead means more headroom. In Sagas benchmarks on the dev laptop, the native build ran faster than Dolphin at both 1× and 5× internal resolution.

Nimbus performance overlay reading FPS 29.7, Speed 100 percent, Max 665 percent, with CPU 15, GX 12 and GPU 9 percent.

Platforms

Where things stand right now. Alpha 1.5 is out for all three platforms (2026-11-05); it's an early alpha, and work continues.

Linux

Alpha 1.5

The main development platform. The three GameCube games plus Supersonic Warriors and Taiketsu are in one build. Ubuntu 26.04 (64-bit x86) is the supported distro for now; other distros aren't supported yet.

Android

Alpha 1.5

The three GameCube games, Supersonic Warriors and Taiketsu run on Android 13+, in one arm64 app. Sagas runs comfortably above full speed on handhelds such as the Retroid Pocket 5 and the RG Slide.

Windows

Alpha 1.5

The three GameCube games, Supersonic Warriors and Taiketsu run natively on Windows, in one portable x64 folder with the same launcher, host and renderer as Linux and Android. Tested on Windows 11 x64; it needs an AVX2-class (x86-64-v3) CPU and a Vulkan or D3D12 GPU. Sagas two-player co-op isn't fully covered on Windows yet.

Benchmarks

Early dev results

Early numbers from current Android dev builds, measured on real hardware and shown with the core they were measured on, next to Dolphin on the same device. Results vary by device and game: on the RG Slide, Nimbus is behind Dolphin in all three games, while on the Pixel 9a it ties in Sagas, is slightly ahead in Budokai and is behind in Budokai 2. Closing the gaps is ongoing work. Linux and Windows results are coming.

Loading the benchmark readout…

How we test: Method TBD. We'll publish the test scenes, settings and capture method alongside the first results.

Submit your results — coming soon

Online. Across platforms.

Cross-platform online play with an online lobby, join codes, a growing global server fleet and tournaments on the way.

Crossplay

Linux , Android and Windows

An Ubuntu PC, a Windows PC and an Android handheld can join the same match. Crossplay is tested on real hardware, including Budokai 2 and Sagas between a Linux laptop and a Retroid Pocket 5.

Photo of a Retroid Pocket 5 handheld held in front of a laptop screen. Both screens show the same Dragon Ball Z: Sagas co-op scene: Goku and Piccolo standing together on a grassy field, with each player's portrait at the bottom. Each screen also shows a Nimbus performance overlay in its top-right corner.
Real hardware Sagas co-op: Retroid Pocket 5 (Android) with a Linux laptop
Photo of a Retroid Pocket 5 handheld held in front of a laptop screen. Both screens show the same Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 fight: Goku and Piccolo squaring off in the World Tournament arena, health bars across the top. Each screen also shows a Nimbus performance overlay in its top-right corner.
Real hardware Budokai 2 crossplay: Retroid Pocket 5 (Android) with a Linux laptop
Real hardware Budokai 2 online versus: Retroid Pocket 5 (Android) against a PC, matched through the online lobby

How you find each other

Join code

Tested

Host online and you get a short join code. Share it with a friend, they type it in, and you meet in the same match. Codes use clear characters so they are easy to read aloud.

LAN

Tested

Host on your home network and the other player can join from the same LAN. The launcher remembers recent hosts.

Quick match & public games

The online lobby pairs you with someone on the same game and build, or lists public games anyone can join. It's in the Android app now, and coming to the Linux and Windows launchers too.

Tournaments

In development

Single-elimination brackets for 4 to 32 players, best of 1, 3 or 5, with byes, forfeits and organizer rulings. Supported on the online side and coming to every platform: Linux, Windows and Android. No launcher has the screens yet.

What a match looks like

Same game, same build

Before a match starts, both sides check that the game, build and settings match. The joiner plays with the host's unlocks for that session, and their own save isn't touched.

Co-op & versus

Sagas is two-player co-op: player 2 presses START to drop in. Budokai and Budokai 2 are head-to-head. Up to 4 controllers are supported across the two devices (so far we've tested one controller per device). You can see ping in-game.

Regional servers

Tested

Online play runs on city-based servers: Memphis, San Francisco, New York, Amsterdam and London are live now, and Alpha 1.6 expands the fleet to sixteen instances across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa and Asia-Pacific. Pick a location in the launcher, or leave it on Auto for the lowest ping. See the global map.

Self-hosting

Not yet

Self-hosted servers aren't available yet. There's also no spectator mode or chat right now.

Server regions

The fleet has grown to 16 server instances worldwide in preparation for Alpha 1.6 and beyond. Explore the interactive map up top: Global server fleet.

The Nimbus launcher's Server Selection screen, styled like a CRT, with seven dragon balls across the top. The menu lists Auto / Lowest ping, then the server locations, each with the ping measured at that moment, followed by Test server pings and Back. Button hints at the bottom read D-pad select, A start, B back.
From the launcher Server selection: pick a location or let Nimbus choose the lowest ping

Downloads

Every file has a SHA-256 checksum so you can check your download.

What's new in Alpha 1.5 Released 2026-11-05 for Linux, Windows and Android

Released 2026-11-05 for Linux, Windows and Android. Android installs over the existing app and keeps your links, settings and saves.

Alpha 1.5, Nov 5, 2026 (Linux, Windows and Android): Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (Game Boy Advance) joins as a native port — the fifth game — with Link VS, Quick Match / Local Two Players, HD texture packs (PC, Android and 2x lite), internal resolution 1x–8x and cel levels. The launcher on all three platforms builds its own NimbusProjectDBZ folder, with Find My Files (IMPORT THIS / IMPORT ALL), native compressed discs (GCZ, CISO, RVZ, WIA) and zip / 7z archives; WBFS and RAR are not supported. Android gets one touch layer for all five games with per-game profiles. Fixed: Taiketsu no longer stops after about 90 seconds in a fight. Only what the changelog covers is claimed; tested with packaged Linux runs on five games, matching Windows headless hashes for Taiketsu and Supersonic Warriors, and the owner played Taiketsu on a Retroid Pocket 5.

Earlier notes Hotfixes & prior alphas

Hotfix 8, Nov 4, 2026 (Linux and Windows): replaces Hotfix 7 with launcher work on 7z archives and compressed disc images (not announced as supported yet: link a plain .iso or .gcm, or a .zip of one). Hotfix 7 had no 7z, and Hotfix 6 failed on real Dolphin GCZ files. Only the launcher changed; tested with real Dolphin, wit and 7-Zip files in a sandbox and on the owner’s Linux laptop.

Hotfix 7, Nov 4, 2026 (Linux and Windows): replaces Hotfix 6 with launcher work on compressed disc images (not announced as supported yet: link a plain .iso or .gcm, or a .zip of one). The decoders it includes (Zstandard, LZMA SDK, bzip2) are credited in the third-party notices inside both downloads. Only the launcher changed; tested with real Dolphin and wit files in a sandbox and on the owner’s Linux laptop.

Hotfix 6, Nov 4, 2026 (Linux and Windows): replaces Hotfix 5. Find My Files only offers real HD packs (tier folders such as 2x/3x/4x, or a manifest, at the top or one level down in a zip); loose piles of textures and screenshot folders are ignored, and a ball whose linked pack is only loose images counts as unlinked, so the real pack is offered as BEST and imported by IMPORT ALL. Find My Files has clickable IMPORT THIS (ENTER) and IMPORT ALL (A) buttons, with a count and a message; an imported item shows DONE. The in-launcher chooser list for texture, movie and pack balls is gone: every ball now opens your normal file explorer (for a pack ball, pick the pack’s .zip or any file inside the pack’s folder; dragging a folder or zip onto the window still works). An empty file named .nimbus-skip keeps a folder out of every search. Only the launcher changed; tested in sandbox (Linux and Windows) and on the owner’s Linux laptop.

Hotfix 5, Nov 4, 2026 (Linux and Windows): replaces Hotfixes 2–4 (Hotfix 4 was not published separately). Find My Files now looks in your browser download folders first (it reads the settings of Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Chromium and Vivaldi, plus the system Downloads folder), then folders you have linked from before, then Documents and Desktop, mounted and removable drives and the rest of the home folder. It runs a minute at most, ESC stops it and keeps what was found, and it stops early once every ball has a candidate or is linked. After an import a done panel shows ALL DONE or DONE, SOME PROBLEMS and how many balls were linked. The scouter bar eases to the true value and never goes backwards. The star map fits any number of games and colour-codes its stars (discs gold, ROMs cyan, textures violet, movies green, saves blue); each complete game glows as its own constellation. Disc zips no longer flash a false “invalid Game Boy header”. Only the launcher changed; tested in sandboxes on Linux and Windows.

Hotfix 3, Nov 4, 2026 (Linux and Windows): replaces Hotfix 2 with two small fixes, nothing else changed. Find My Files now matches game names on the file or folder name and its parent only, so a file inside a folder named after a game is no longer listed for the wrong ball. A ROM zip dropped on the window with no ball selected is now recognised instead of refused as “not a disc”. Only the launcher changed; tested in sandboxes on Linux and Windows.

Hotfix 2, Nov 4, 2026 (Linux and Windows): the launcher now builds its own NimbusProjectDBZ folder and copies or unpacks whatever you link into it (zips included); your originals are left alone. Press F (Find My Files) to search Downloads, Documents, Desktop and the rest of your home folder, inside zips too: nothing is copied until you pick an item (ENTER) or the best match for each ball (A), and Shift+F searches a folder you choose. Texture, movie and pack balls open one chooser for folders and .zip files; disc and ROM balls keep the system file picker, which accepts zips. Unlinking only forgets a ball: folders on the star map (X) that hold files show UNLINKED, and L links them again. The star map refreshes itself every few seconds (R refreshes now). Saves are backed up into the folder and never moved. Only the launcher changed; tested in sandboxes on Linux and Windows.

Hotfix 1, Nov 4, 2026 (Android): on Android, you can pick the zip you downloaded for your disc or ROM: the app unpacks it for you, as it does for texture pack zips. Compressed formats such as .rvz or .ciso are not supported: use a plain .iso. Install it over the existing app; Linux and Windows were not part of this hotfix.

Update 2, Nov 4, 2026: fixes “Cannot prepare game” on newer Android phones like Pixel. When Android won’t let the app reopen a linked ROM or disc, it now copies it into the app’s own storage once. Install it over the existing app; it keeps the faster HD texture linking.

Updated Nov 3, 2026: a new Android APK makes HD texture linking on Android much faster. It's still Alpha 1.4: install it over the existing app. Linux, Windows, modules and packs are unchanged.

Supersonic Warriors is here

New
  • Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors (Game Boy Advance) joins the launcher on Linux, Windows and Android.
  • It's a true native port: the game's program is statically recompiled into its own game module. No emulator, no interpreter.
  • Nimbus draws the picture itself through the same shared renderer as the GameCube games, so it can go far beyond the original resolution.
  • Bring your own Supersonic Warriors (USA) ROM and link it on the Z Capsules page.

Fight your friends

New
  • Online multiplayer across Linux, Windows and Android, with your ping shown on the HUD.
  • Quick Match with automatic results: both players see the knockout and the winner is reported. If a fight ends on time-out, the launcher asks who won.
  • Link VS: two linked consoles in one app, with Team Select, fights, Quick Match, Local Two Players and save states.

HD all the way up

New
  • Internal resolution from 1x up to 8x.
  • HD texture packs with 1x–4x tiers. In the F1 menu, Texture pack resolution picks Auto or a tier.
  • With the full HD pack at 8x, fights run at a steady 60 fps on the Retroid Pocket 5.
  • Three pack downloads: PC, Android and a small 2x lite pack.

Online fixes

Fixed
  • When you join a match, your controller now drives your own fighter.
  • The host's game window opens while waiting for the other player, so you can see it's waiting.
  • In online Link VS, each player sees and hears their own console.
  • Hotkeys (F1–F7, Esc) act once per press: holding a key no longer re-triggers save states or toggles.

Known limitations

Honest notes
  • Timing uses a provisional model: in busy moments the game can run about one frame early compared with the original, and some sound timing differs. Both players in a match always stay in sync with each other.
  • The Supersonic Warriors module is still development-qualified, so online play uses its one approved version.
  • Link VS on a single device shows one console at a time (you can switch), not two screens.
  • Performance figures are from the Retroid Pocket 5; the RG Slide wasn't measured for this release.

Everything else: the three GameCube games are unchanged. New modules: renderer v601-shared (adds the GBA picture path; the GameCube paths are unchanged), GBA host agb-host-r3 and the Supersonic Warriors core agb-native-r1. The 12 GameCube core and host modules are the same files as in 1.3. Component API 1 and online play compatibility are unchanged.

Testing: an online Supersonic Warriors Quick Match ran through the online lobby between a Linux laptop and a Retroid Pocket 5: both sides detected the same knockout with the same game state and reported the result. Packaged Linux and Windows builds replayed all five games to their reference checkpoints. This is targeted testing, not every game, platform pair and version.

Requirements: Linux: Ubuntu 26.04, x86-64. Windows: Windows 11 x64 with a Vulkan or D3D12 GPU. Android: Android 13+, arm64 (tested on the Retroid Pocket 5).

Full notes: RELEASE-NOTES.txt · checksums: SHA256SUMS · Android Hotfix 1: SHA256SUMS-hotfix-1

Previous releases

Alpha 1.3 · 2026-11-02

London and Amsterdam servers joined the menu; the fleet has kept growing toward Alpha 1.6.

New servers in Europe

New
  • London and Amsterdam join the US servers (Memphis, San Francisco and New York) on Linux, Windows and Android — the start of today's wider global fleet.
  • Auto picks the region with the lowest latency, and you can still choose one yourself.
  • The menu still works with keyboard, gamepad and touch. See the global server map.

Smooth upgrade

Automatic
  • If you use the stock server list, it upgrades automatically.
  • Custom server lists, settings, saves and linked files are kept.
  • Install the full 1.3 download to get the new server menu. The standalone modules are unchanged.

How matches connect

Unchanged
  • Quick Match and public rooms use the online lobby. Private join codes skip the lobby.
  • Your game runs on your own device. Online play uses Nimbus regional servers.
  • Auto still works with players on earlier versions. To pin a match to London or Amsterdam, both players need Alpha 1.3.

Everything else: no gameplay or renderer changes. Host shared-20261102, renderer v5zz-shared, the game cores and 1.2's unlocked Quick Match setup are unchanged; all 15 module downloads are the same files as in 1.2. The unlocked memory-card seeds and quick-start states are still intentionally bundled; no disc images, other personal saves, source files or signing keys are included.

Testing: the Linux and Windows server menus were checked, as were the Retroid Pocket 5 upgrade and its ping results across the server regions available then. Budokai 2 online matches between Linux and a Retroid Pocket 5 stayed in sync through both London and Amsterdam. This is targeted testing, not every game, platform pair and version; crossplay coverage otherwise stays as listed in Online.

Requirements: Linux: Ubuntu 26.04, x86-64. Windows: Windows 11 x64, AVX2-class (x86-64-v3) CPU, Vulkan-capable GPU and the Microsoft Visual C++ x64 Redistributable; this release is Vulkan only. Android: Android 13+, arm64.

Full notes: RELEASE-NOTES.txt · checksums: SHA256SUMS

Alpha 1.2 · 2026-11-02

Quick Match in Budokai and Budokai 2 starts at character select with every fighter unlocked.

Quick Match, straight to the fight

New
  • In Budokai and Budokai 2, Quick Match now drops you right at the 1P-vs-2P character select with every fighter unlocked.
  • There's no separate Quick Versus menu item: it's simply how Quick Match starts now.
  • Local Two Players uses the same unlocked setup.
  • Tournament, public rooms and manual host/join start the same way as before. Sagas is unchanged.

Your saves stay yours

New
  • Each quick start uses its own separate session memory card, so your regular saves aren't touched.
  • Normal Play keeps using your regular card.
  • The two unlocked memory-card seeds and the quick-start states are intentionally bundled in the downloads. No disc images, other personal saves, source files or signing keys are included.

Friends on older versions

Compatible
  • Mixed Alpha 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 matchmaking still works. Whoever hosts decides how the match starts: a 1.2 host starts at the unlocked character select, and an older host uses the original start.
  • No need to split players up by version. The usual core compatibility requirements still apply.
  • Install the full 1.2 download to get these launcher changes. Updating only the host module doesn't add them to an older launcher.

Under the hood: new shared host shared-20261102. The renderer v5zz-shared and the approved game cores are unchanged, as are component API 1 and online play compatibility. Module version labels are separate from the main distro version (1.2).

Testing: the final packages were tested on Linux, native Windows and a Retroid Pocket 5. A Budokai 2 Quick Match crossplay session between Linux and the Retroid Pocket 5 stayed in sync, and new-host/older-host compatibility passed in both directions on Linux. This is targeted testing, not every game, platform pair and older version; crossplay coverage otherwise stays as listed in Online.

Requirements: Linux: Ubuntu 26.04, x86-64. Windows: Windows 11 x64, AVX2-class (x86-64-v3) CPU, Vulkan-capable GPU and the Microsoft Visual C++ x64 Redistributable; this release is Vulkan only. Android: Android 13+, arm64.

Full notes: RELEASE-NOTES.txt · checksums: SHA256SUMS

Alpha 1.1 · 2026-11-02

Android touch polish, the Sagas outline fix and Components versions & rollback.

Android touch controls

New
  • Cleaner, translucent GameCube-style buttons with clearer labels and visible feedback when you press them.
  • Shoulder buttons sit below the performance overlay, START is a wider pill, and the D-pad has arrows.
  • Buttons respond to their drawn shapes, with a little thumb margin. New touch-opacity slider (30–90%) and a small stick dead zone.
  • The four-star Dragon Ball menu button has an amber finish, and dragging it no longer opens the menu by accident.
  • Touch controls hide automatically when a gamepad is connected (the menu ball stays). You can still show or hide them yourself.

Sagas outlines

Fixed
  • Black character outlines no longer disappear during projectile and explosion effects, including in co-op.

Components: versions & rollback

New
  • New Components > Versions / rollback screen on Linux, Windows and Android.
  • See whether each part is bundled or replaced, its signed version label where available, and its exact fingerprint.
  • Your previous selection is kept. Rollback brings it back and Restore bundled returns to the stock parts; both apply the next time you launch a game and don't touch saves or linked files.
  • A damaged previous file is rejected without changing what's active.
Sagas on Android with the new Alpha 1.1 touch controls: translucent L, R, Z, X, Y, A, B and C buttons, an analog stick, a D-pad with arrows and a START pill over the game.
The new Android touch controls in Sagas (Alpha 1.1)

Under the hood: shared renderer v5zz-shared and host shared-20261101 (component API 1; online play compatible). The game cores and host are the same approved binaries as Alpha 1.0. Module version labels (like c19r2-bolt or v5zz-shared) are separate from the main distro version (1.1).

Requirements: Linux: Ubuntu 26.04, x86-64. Windows: Windows 11 x64, AVX2-class (x86-64-v3) CPU, Vulkan-capable GPU and the Microsoft Visual C++ x64 Redistributable; this release is Vulkan only. Android: Android 13+, arm64.

Crossplay: coverage is the same as in Online; this release doesn't add new tested platform/game pairings.

Full notes: RELEASE-NOTES.txt · checksums: SHA256SUMS

  • Alpha 1.4 · 2026-11-03 · full notes: RELEASE-NOTES.txt (hotfixes through 8). Downloads remain under the Alpha 1.5 cards as alternates.
  • Alpha 1.3 · 2026-11-02 · full notes: RELEASE-NOTES.txt. Downloads and SHA-256 checksums stay available under Other versions on each Main distro card.
  • Alpha 1.2 · 2026-11-02 · full notes: RELEASE-NOTES.txt. Downloads and SHA-256 checksums stay available under Other versions on each Main distro card.
  • Alpha 1.1 · 2026-11-02 · full notes: RELEASE-NOTES.txt. Downloads and SHA-256 checksums stay available under Other versions on each Main distro card.
  • Alpha 1.0 · 2026-11-01 · the first public release for Linux, Windows and Android. Its downloads and checksums are also under Older alphas.

Main distro

Launcher + all stable modules, bundled in one. Alpha 1.5 is out for Linux, Android and Windows (released 2026-11-05) and adds Taiketsu. Runtime components for all five games are bundled; no game files are included, so you need your own NTSC-U discs and your own Supersonic Warriors (USA) ROM. Third-party license notices ship inside every download.

Bundles: launcher · hosts shared-20261102 and agb-host-r3 · renderer v601-shared · cores for all five games

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Also on GitHub Releases. Looking for Alpha 1.3, 1.2, 1.1 or 1.0? They're under Other versions on each card and in Previous releases.

HD packs

Optional HD texture and movie packs for each game. They need the native Nimbus build and your own disc (or, for Supersonic Warriors, your own ROM). The Windows build uses the same shared pack loader as Linux, so the same packs apply there; we haven't run one on Windows yet.

Loading the pack list… If nothing shows up, open packs.json directly.

Checking a download

On Linux run sha256sum FILE; on Windows run certutil -hashfile FILE SHA256. The result must match the SHA-256 shown on the card. Each pack is a single zip.

About The Nimbus Recompilation Project (TNRP)

Free. No catch.

Free

Everything here is free: the native builds, the modules, the HD packs and online play. There's no price, no paywall, no premium tier, and we don't take donations.

Closed source, for now

Open source planned

The Nimbus Recompilation Project is custom built for these three games, and we plan to make it open source. It isn't open source yet because of:

  • Server hosting: we run the online servers.
  • Networking: keeping online play secure and stable.
  • Cross compatibility: keeping the Linux, Windows and Android builds matched so crossplay works.
  • Continued, focused development: keeping the work concise and moving.

We also plan to release a mature toolset in the future.

Devlog & roadmap

RoadmapDone, now and next
  1. Done

    One launcher for the trilogy

    CRT menu, per-game status, keyboard, mouse and gamepad.

  2. Done

    Online play in the launcher

    HOST, JOIN and LOCAL 2 PLAYERS, join codes and ping. Online play uses Nimbus regional servers.

  3. Done

    HD packs

    AI-upscaled texture packs for all three games and HD movies for Sagas, built and validated. Available in Downloads.

  4. Done

    The trilogy on Android

    Budokai, Budokai 2 and Sagas all run on Android, on par with Linux. Sagas runs above full speed on the Retroid Pocket 5 and RG Slide.

  5. Now

    Budokai & Budokai 2

    Bringing both fighters up to the same level as Sagas.

  6. Done

    The trilogy on Windows

    Budokai, Budokai 2 and Sagas run natively on Windows 11 x64, with the same launcher, host and renderer as Linux and Android. First published in Alpha 1.0.

  7. Done

    Alpha 1.1

    Released 2026-11-02: polished Android touch controls, the Sagas outline fix, Components versions & rollback, and separate module downloads. See the 1.1 notes.

  8. Done

    Alpha 1.2

    Released 2026-11-02: Quick Match in Budokai and Budokai 2 starts right at character select with every fighter unlocked, and Local Two Players uses the same setup. See the 1.2 notes.

  9. Done

    Servers in Europe

    Alpha 1.3 (2026-11-02) adds London and Amsterdam server regions alongside the US servers in Memphis, San Francisco and New York, on Linux, Windows and Android — the start of the wider fleet mapped for Alpha 1.6. See the global server map and What's new.

  10. Done

    Crossplay

    Available: online multiplayer across Linux, Windows and Android. See Online.

  11. Now

    Budokai 2 HD movies

    Both movies are extracted frame by frame and waiting to be upscaled.

  12. Done

    Alpha 1.4: Supersonic Warriors

    Released 2026-11-03: the Game Boy Advance game arrives as a native port on Linux, Windows and Android, with online play, Link VS and HD up to 8x. See What's new and the link versus demo.

  13. Done

    Alpha 1.5: Taiketsu

    Released 2026-11-05: Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu for Game Boy Advance arrives as a native port on Linux, Windows and Android, with Link VS, Quick Match, HD packs and touch controls for all five games. See What's new and the box art.

  14. Next

    Lobby everywhere

    Quick match, public games and tournaments in every launcher: Linux, Windows and Android.

Planned & ideas

What we're working toward next. These are plans and ideas, not promises, and there are no dates yet.

Cel shading for Sagas

Done

Nimbus uses its own runtime and renderer, so Sagas now has a cel-shaded mode, and the same renderer leaves room for other visual effects. See it in action.

Budokai 2 co-op campaign

In progress

Play through the Budokai 2 story with a friend, on top of the online play the launcher already has.

Sagas co-op improvements

In progress

Quality-of-life fixes for Sagas co-op, which already works between Linux and Android.

Cross-platform World Tournament

Planned

World Tournament mode with players on Linux, Windows and Android in the same bracket.

Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu

Shipped in 1.5

Game Boy Advance, out now in Alpha 1.5 as a native port. See the box art.

Speed on budget devices

Goal

Sagas lagging on a Unisoc T820 phone is one of the reasons Nimbus exists. The goal is smooth, full-speed play on modest Android hardware, not just flagship handhelds.

Full devlog coming soon.

FAQ

What is TNRP?

TNRP is short for The Nimbus Recompilation Project, the new name of The Nimbus Project: free native ports of Dragon Ball Z Budokai, Budokai 2 and Sagas (GameCube) and Supersonic Warriors and Taiketsu (Game Boy Advance) for Linux, Windows and Android, with online crossplay. The official site is nimbusrecomp.org.

Is TNRP an emulator?

No. TNRP runs on a hybrid core that sits between recompilation and decompilation. Each game gets its own native core, and those cores run on a shared Nimbus host and renderer. Dolphin isn't involved, and there's no emulator and no interpreter emulating the hardware. Supersonic Warriors (GBA) is a native port too: its program is statically recompiled into its own module. Detailed architecture notes are coming to the site later.

Do I need my own copy of the game?

Yes. No disc images included; your own NTSC-U discs are required. Bring your own legally obtained disc of Budokai, Budokai 2 or Sagas, and the launcher shows NO DISC until it finds one. For Supersonic Warriors, bring your own USA ROM.

Which versions are supported?

The North American (NTSC-U) GameCube releases of all three games. Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors for Game Boy Advance (USA ROM) is supported from Alpha 1.4. Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (USA ROM) is supported from Alpha 1.5.

Can I play with a friend online?

Yes. Host a game from the launcher, send your friend the join code and they join over your LAN or online through Nimbus. Sagas is co-op; Budokai and Budokai 2 are versus. Local two-player works too.

Which Linux distros are supported?

Ubuntu 26.04 (64-bit x86) for now. Other distros aren't supported yet.

Will it run on my handheld?

The Android build runs the three GameCube games and Supersonic Warriors and needs a 64-bit (arm64) device running Android 13 or later. Sagas runs above full speed on handhelds like the Retroid Pocket 5 and RG Slide.

What are the HD packs?

Optional downloads that swap in AI-upscaled textures (all three games) and upscaled movies (Sagas). They work with the native builds only, and you can switch back to the originals from the F1 menu at any time. See Downloads.

Does TNRP cost anything? Is it open source?

It's free: the builds, the HD packs and online play, with no paywalls and no donations. The Nimbus Recompilation Project is closed source for now, and we plan to make it open source. It isn't yet because of server hosting, networking, cross compatibility and keeping development focused; we also plan to release a mature toolset in the future. See About the project.

When is it coming out?

It's out. Alpha 1.5 came out on 2026-11-05 for Ubuntu 26.04, Windows 11 (Vulkan or D3D12) and Android 13+ (arm64) and adds Taiketsu (with Supersonic Warriors from 1.4); the current release is Alpha 1.5 (2026-11-05). It follows Alpha 1.3, 1.2 and 1.1 on 2026-11-02 and Alpha 1.0 on 2026-11-01. Get it from Main distro. It's an early alpha; follow the roadmap above for what's next.

How do I reach you?

Email [email protected].

Special Thanks

The Nimbus Recompilation Project (TNRP) stands on a lot of other people's work. Thank you.

The original games

  • Dragon Ball Z: Budokai and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2: developed by Dimps (GameCube versions ported by Pyramid), published in North America by Atari.
  • Dragon Ball Z: Sagas: developed by Avalanche Software, published by Atari.
  • Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors (Game Boy Advance): developed by Arc System Works and Cavia, published in North America by Atari and in Japan by Banpresto.
  • Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (Game Boy Advance): developed by Webfoot Technologies, published in North America by Atari.
  • Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai and Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road (PSP): developed by Dimps, published in North America by Atari.
  • Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team (PSP): developed by Spike, published in North America by Namco Bandai Games.
  • Dragon Ball was created by Akira Toriyama, with Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation.
  • Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo.
  • PSP and PlayStation are trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Open-source and third-party software in the downloads

Licenses are as stated in the notice files shipped with Alpha 1.0. The full license texts ship inside each download (licenses/THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt on Windows, assets/THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt in the Android app, and inside the Linux .run).

Rendering and graphics 10

Listed in the notices of all three downloads

Core libraries 9

Listed in the notices of all three downloads

  • {fmt} MIT (with an optional exception) · logging
  • xxHash BSD-2-Clause · hashing
  • SQLite Public domain · pipeline cache
  • Zstandard (zstd) BSD-3-Clause (dual BSD / GPL-2; used under BSD)
  • jemalloc BSD-2-Clause · host memory allocator
  • Boost.Context BSL-1.0 · guest thread switching
  • Monocypher BSD-2-Clause or CC0-1.0 (used under BSD-2-Clause) · online play, join codes
  • libpng Libpng · PNG textures and artwork
  • zlib-ng Zlib · compression
Fonts 2

Listed in the notices of all three downloads

Linux system libraries 31

Linux .run only: unmodified Ubuntu 26.04 packages, used only when your system lacks its own copy

Toolchain runtimes 2

Shipped as runtime libraries in the Windows and Android builds

Map data

The coastlines in our global server map come from Natural Earth (1:110m land), free public-domain map data.

Modules

The hosts, renderer and the game cores (three GameCube cores plus Supersonic Warriors) are also available on their own, signed, for each platform. You don't need them to play: the main distro already bundles everything and automatically selects its bundled cores. Swap a part from the launcher's Components menu without reinstalling. The launcher itself only updates through the main distro.

Module set 1.5: new Taiketsu core BDBE70 agb-native-r1, GBA host agb-host-r4 and renderer v602-shared · the Supersonic Warriors core, host shared-20261102 and the three GameCube cores unchanged · catalog.json

Loading the module list…

Installing a module:
  1. Android: select the .nimbus-component file directly in Components.
  2. Linux and Windows: extract the ZIP and keep the binary next to its .ticket file, then select it in Components.
  3. Changes apply the next time you launch a game. Nimbus doesn't download or update modules automatically, and parts can't be swapped mid-game.
  4. Rollback (Components > Versions / rollback) restores your previous selection, and Restore bundled goes back to the stock parts. It isn't an automatic recovery system.
  5. Use only the files for your platform: each one has its own SHA-256. Standalone Linux core modules need an x86-64-v3 CPU; on older (baseline) CPUs, stick with the cores bundled in the main distro.
  6. Module version labels (for example c19a6-bolt, agb-native-r1 or v601-shared) are separate from the distro version. Online play is limited to reviewed cores; other cores still work offline.

Older alphas

Previous Linux, Windows and Android builds. Current Alpha 1.5 downloads stay in Downloads. Same files and checksums as before — just listed here so the distro cards stay short.

Loading previous builds…