Cemu is a closed source Nintendo Wii U video game emulator that enables gamers to experience Wii U games on their computers. It was initially created by 2 people and the very first version was released on Oct 13, 2015. It has been in development ever since the initial launch. The development project is mainly funded by Patreon supporters who receive every new update a week before the general public. The latest version of this emulator is Cemu 1.12.0 and that is the one we will show you how to install.
How to Install Cemu 1.12.0 on Windows PC
Before starting, make sure that your windows is completely updated including graphics drivers, audio drivers and any other drivers that you can think of. Also, you need to have 7zip, Direct X, and C++ Redistributable installed on your PC. If you dont have these download them from the links below:
Important files for installing Cemu 1.12.0:
Download these and store them in a folder.
Now that you have all the required files lets start with the guide.
Step 1-Extract the Cemu 1.12.0 zip file into a folder.
Step 2-Open the Cemu 1.12.0 folder and copy the Cemu hook zip file into it.
Step 3- Once you are done with extracting the Cemu hook zip file you will see that you have dbghelp.dll and keystone.dll. You can now delete the Cemu hook zip file from Cemu 1.12.0 folder.
Step 4- Now go to the graphics pack folder inside Cemu 1.12.0 folder and drag and drop the graphics pack zip file that you downloaded earlier.
Step 5- Now right click the graphics pack zip file and select “extract here”. Once the extraction is done delete the graphics pack zip file.
Step 6- Now go to shadercache folder inside Cemu 1.12.0 and then go into “transferable”. You can get the shaderCache files for the game of your choice from the link provided above. Download the shadercache file for the game that you want to play and then copy it to this folder. It will be a .bin file.
Step 7- Now we need to create five new folders in order to download games to play on Cemu. In a set directory you will need to create the following folders:
- HELPER
- Helper DL
- helper DX
- Wii U Game Updates and DLC
- WiiUGames
Step 8- Now download the Wii U USB helper from the links given above. Double-click the .exe file. When a window appears, it will ask you to type in the specific title key for the game that you want to download. You can get title keys for all the games from here.
Step 9- Once you have typed in the title key for respective game click on “Ok”. You will see a screen like the one below.
Step 10- Now you need to configure your download directory, click the button in the bottom of the screen that says “Set download directory” then click ok and navigate to where ever you created the folder “Helper DL”. Simply select that folder by highlighting it and then click “select folder”.
Step 11- You have to do the same for “extraction directory” as well. Click the “Set extraction directory” button at the bottom and navigate to “Helper EX” folder that you had created earlier. Select that folder.
Step 12- Now you are ready to download any games you want. Type in the name of the game that you want to download in the search bar.
For example, type Legend of Zelda: Breath of the wild and choose EU region game because EU region has the best compatibility on Cemu. Click on the game and click download game(s). Click yes both times when it asks if you want to download the update and the DLC.
Step 13- Once the game is in the download queue simply click the “start downloading” button at the bottom.
Step 14- Now go to the “download manager” button at the top right corner and click it, a window will appear. This is where you can keep track of the download speed and eta of the game. Go to the bottom of this window and tick the box that says “unpack”.
Step 15- To increase the speed of the download go to the speed tab at the top of the download manager window and tick the box at the bottom that says “enable superspeed”.
Step 16- Once the download has completed, navigate to “Helper EX” folder and select the folder that says “The Legend of Zelda breath of the wild”. Right-click this folder and select “cut”. Go to your Wii U games folder and paste the folder that you cut. remember this is the actual game folder and not the DLC or the update.
Step 17- Go back to the “Helper EX” folder and select both the DLC and the update folders, right click and then cut. Go to “WiiUGames Updates and DLC” and simply paste.
Step 18- Now launch the Cemu 1.12.0 emulator. Go to options tab at the top and select “configure game paths”. Double click to add a new entry. Once the window opens, navigate to the “WiiUGames” folder and select it.
Step 19- Once you have done all that the game should show up on the main screen of the emulator like shown below.
Step 20- Now go to the file tab at the top right and click on “Install game update or DLC”. A window will pop up, navigate to “Wii U Game Updates and DLC” folder, open it. firstly, let’s install the DLC. So double click the DLC folder and then go to “meta” and then select “meta.xml” and open it.
let the DLC install.
Step 21- Now do the same for the “update data” folder. Go to “Wii U game Update and DLC” and double-click the “Update Data” folder, then “meta” folder and then select the “meta.xml” file.
Let the installation complete.
…and there you go, your Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild game is ready to be played. you can follow the steps for any other game as well. Double click the game and let the shader cache compilation complete.
Stay tuned for performance improvement guides for Cemu 1.12.0 and other tweaks.
Also, let us know what you think about the Cemu 1.12.0 emulator.