Vita3K is a Playstation Vita emulator.

GitHub: https://github.com/Vita3K/Vita3K

Compatibility List: https://vita3k.org/compatibility.html?lang=en

Quickstart Guide: https://vita3k.org/quickstart.html

Vita3K Table of Contents

Getting Started with Vita3K
Vita3K Tips and Tricks

Getting Started with Vita3K

In order to play a game on Vita3K, you will need to install firmware through the Vita3K UI. In desktop mode, open Vita3K, either in the application menu or through its shortcut in Emulation/tools/launchers/vita3k.sh. In Vita3K, click File, click Install Firmware. Firmware is provided legally by Sony.

Make sure to check out Vita3K's quickstart guide: https://vita3k.org/quickstart.html.

Read the Configuration section to learn more about Vita3K and its folder locations.

To launch your ROMs in Game Mode, first install your ROMs through Vita3K if you are using the .zip or .pkg file formats. For more information, see the File Formats section. Afterwards, you may use Steam ROM Manager and use one of the following parsers to play your PlayStation Vita ROMs:

ES-DE
Sony PlayStation Vita Installed PKG
Emulators

Vita3K Configuration

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Type of Emulator: Binary Package
Config Location: /home/deck/Applications/Vita3K
Executable Location: /home/deck/Applications/Vita3K/Vita3K
Storage Location: Emulation/storage/Vita3K/ux0
ROM Location: Emulation/roms/psvita/InstalledGames
- InstalledGames is a symlink to Emulation/storage/Vita3K/uxo/app
Firmware: Install firmware through Vita3K's GUI. Read the Quickstart Guide for a tutorial
Saves: Emulation/storage/Vita3K/ux0/user/00/savedata
- Save folders correspond to a game's Title ID. To locate your game's Title ID, open Vita3K, right click a game, and click Information

Works With

Steam ROM Manager
ES-DE
- Refer to How to Configure Vita3K to Work With ES-DE and Pegasus for instructions

Vita3K Folder Locations

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These file locations apply regardless of where you chose to install EmuDeck (to your internal SSD, to your SD Card, or elsewhere). Some emulator configuration files will be located on the internal SSD as listed below.

$HOME refers to your home folder. If you are on a Steam Deck, this folder will be named /home/deck (you will likely not see deck in the file path when navigating using the file manager).

Paths beginning with Emulation/.. correspond to your EmuDeck install location. If you installed on an SD Card, your path may be /run/media/mmcblk0p1/Emulation/roms/... If you installed on your internal SSD, your path may be /home/deck/Emulation/roms/..

Note: Folders with a . (.var, .local, .config, etc.) at the beginning are hidden by default. In Dolphin (file manager), click the hamburger menu in the top right, click Show Hidden Files to see these folders.

$HOME/.config/Vita3K

Vita3K/
├── config.yml
└── config.yml.bak

$HOME/.local/share/Vita3K

Vita3K/
├── lang
│   └── user
│       └── PLACE USER LANG HERE.txt
├── textures
│   └── import
│
└── Vita3K

$HOME/.cache/Vita3K

Vita3K
├── shaderlog
├── shaders
└── texturelog

Emulation/storage/Vita3K

Vita3K/
├── gro0
├── grw0
├── host0
├── imc0
├── os0
│   ├── kd
│   ├── sm
│   ├── ue
│   └── us
├── pd0
├── sa0
│   └── data
├── sd0
├── tm0
├── ud0
├── uma0
│   └── data
├── ur0
├── ux0
│   ├── app
│   ├── data
│   ├── license
│   ├── temp
│   ├── theme
│   └── user
│       └──00
│           └──savedata
├── vd0
├── vs0
│   ├── app
│   ├── data
│   ├── sys
│   ├── tool
│   └── vsh
└── xmc0

How to Update Vita3K

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How to Update Vita3K

Through the Update your Emulators & Tools section on the Manage Emulators page in the EmuDeck application
Manual file replacement of Vita3K
- Refer to How to Swap Out AppImages and Binaries for instructions
Through Vita3K's built-in updater
- Desktop Mode:
  - Search for Vita3K in the Applications Launcher (Steam Deck icon in the bottom left of the taskbar) and open it, Vita3K will prompt for an update if one is available
- Game Mode:
  - Add Vita3K to Steam by using the Emulators parser in Steam ROM Manager. After adding it to Steam, you may open it in Game Mode, Vita3K will prompt for an update if one is available
Through binupdate.sh in Emulation/tools/binupdate, double click to launch

How to Launch Vita3K in Desktop Mode

How to Launch Vita3K in Desktop Mode

Launch Vita3K Binary from the Applications Launcher (Steam Deck icon in the bottom left of the taskbar)
Launch the script from Emulation/tools/launchers, vita3k.sh
Launch the binary in /home/deck/Applications/Vita3K/Vita3K
Launch the emulator from Steam after adding it via the Emulators parser in Steam ROM Manager

Vita3K File Formats

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.pkg and work.bin
- Install through Vita3K's GUI
.zip
- Install through Vita3K's GUI
Manually decrypted games in the form of a folder
- Place these folders in Emulation/roms/psvita/InstalledGames
.vpk
- Install through Vita3K's GUI

Note: Vitamin dumps (VPK) are not officially supported and may not work as expected.

To learn how to dump your games, see https://vita3k.org/quickstart.html.

Vita3K Tips and Tricks

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How to Configure Vita3K to Work With ES-DE and Pegasus

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Note: This section requires you to install your PlayStation Vita games first through Vita3K. At this time, ES-DE and Pegasus only support launching installed PSVita games.

In Desktop Mode, open Vita3K
Right click a game of your choice, and click Copy app info → Title ID
- You may also click Information to see the Title ID
- Example 1:
- Example 2:
In Emulation/roms/psvita, right click, Create New - Text File
Name it GAMENAME.psvita
- The name of the file is primarily for identifying it in ES-DE and Pegasus and scraping
Open the text file in Kate or a text editor of your choice and paste the Title ID from Step 1 on a single line
- Using Tales of Heart R as an example:
Save the text file and exit out
Repeat for each PlayStation Vita ROM
Your game should now show up in and launch directly from ES-DE and Pegasus

For additional detail, read ES-DE's section on Vita3K: https://gitlab.com/es-de/emulationstation-de/-/blob/master/USERGUIDE.md#sony-playstation-vita

How to Configure Gyro With External Controllers

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Supported Games

This list is not comprehensive

Assassin's Creed: Liberation
Borderlands 2
Chronovolt
Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors
Gravity Rush
Killzone Mercenary
Little Deviants
Plants vs. Zombies
Resident Evil: Revelations 2
Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed
Super Stardust Delta
Uncharted Golden Abyss
VitaQuake

Desktop Mode

Switch to Desktop Mode
Exit out of Steam
- You may exit out of Steam a couple of different ways:
  - Right click the Steam icon in your taskbar and click Exit Steam
  - Open Steam, click the Steam button in the top left, click Exit
  - Open a terminal (Konsole) and enter killall -9 steam
  - Do note that clicking the the X button in the top right of the Steam window will not exit out of Steam
- Your controls will switch to Lizard Mode. Use L2 to right click, R2 to left click, and the Right Trackpad to move the mouse
- You may also connect an external keyboard and mouse
Click the bluetooth icon in the bottom right of your taskbar and connect your controller
Open Vita3K
Click Controls at the top, click Controllers
Make sure your external controller is listed here and that you see Gamepad has motion support at the bottom of this screen
Close out of the controller screen and Vita3K
Switch to Game Mode

Game Mode

In Game Mode, connect your controller
Select your PlayStation Vita game
On the Play screen, select the Controller icon to the right of the screen
Select your controller tab at the top
Click the Gear icon to the right, and click Disable Steam Input
- You may need to restart first for this setting to properly apply
Your controller's gyro will now work for this selected game, repeat as needed for your other games

Post-Configuration

To restore the default Steam Deck controls:

Once you disconnect your controller, your Steam Deck controls should work again. If you would like your controller to remain connected, you may need to re-enable Steam Input for your controller so you can use the Re-order Controllers feature.

How to Re-Enable Steam Input

Select your PlayStation Vita game
On the Play screen, select the Controller icon to the right of the screen
Select your controller tab at the top
Click the Gear icon to the right, and click Enable Steam Input
- You may need to restart first for this setting to properly apply
The controls will be reverted to Steam Input and the Steam Deck controls will be restored

How to Install Custom Textures

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Texture Pack Sources

This list is not exhaustive

https://old.reddit.com/r/tales/comments/17ogjtr/tales_of_innocence_r_hd_fan_project_english/
- For updates to this texture pack, you will need to join their Discord. For the link, see the top of the GitHub page: https://github.com/lifebottle/Tales-of-Innocence-R

How to Install Custom Textures

In Desktop Mode, open /home/deck/.local/share/Vita3K/
- ~/.local is an invisible folder by default, click the Hamburger menu in the top right of the file explorer, click Show Hidden Files
Create a textures folder here, casing matters
In the textures folder, create an import folder, casing matters
Place your downloaded texture pack folder (containing the texture files) directly in the newly created import folder
- The texture pack folder should match the game's Title ID
  - To locate your game's Title ID, open Vita3K, right click a game, and click Information
In Desktop Mode, open Vita3K:
1. At the top, click Configuration, Settings, GPU
2. Check Import Textures under Texture Replacement
3. Click Save and close out of the settings menu
  - You may also do this on a per game basis:
    1. Right click the game
    2. Click Custom Config, Create, GPU,
    3. Check Import Textures under Texture Replacement
    4. Click Save and close out of the settings menu
Your texture pack will now be applied

How to Install English Patches

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English Patch Sources

This list is not exhaustive

This section will use the Tales of Innocence R English Patch as an example. Instructions may differ depending on what patch you are using, but generally you will be able to apply the below instructions to any English patch.

In Desktop Mode, open Vita3K and install your game
- Skip this step if you have already installed your game
Download the English patch and extract it to a folder of your choice
- For Tales of Innocence R English Patch, download the " toir_patch-DecryptedWithComputer" version from https://github.com/lifebottle/Tales-of-Innocence-R/releases
On the Steam Deck, open https://www.romhacking.net/hash/ on a web browser of your choice
If your English patch extracted folder includes a eboot.xdelta file:
1. ROM Hack: Click Browse and navigate to Emulation/storage/Vita3K/uxo/app/GAMETITLEID and select the eboot.bin file
  - To locate your game's Title ID, open Vita3K, right click a game, and click Information
2. Patch File: Navigate to your extracted English patch folder from Step 2 and select the eboot.xdelta file
3. Click Apply Patch, romhacking.net will save your patched eboot.bin to your GAMETITLEID folder
  - If the website saves your file elsewhere, move it to your GAMETITLEID folder
4. Either delete or rename the original eboot.bin file and rename the newly patched eboot (patched).bin file to eboot.bin
If your English patch extracted folder includes a toidata_release.xdelta file:
1. ROM Hack: Click Browse and navigate to Emulation/storage/Vita3K/uxo/app/GAMETITLEID and select the toidata_release.l7c file
  - To locate your game's Title ID, open Vita3K, right click a game, and click Information
2. Patch File: Navigate to your extracted English patch folder from Step 2 and select the toidata_release.xdelta file
3. Click Apply Patch, romhacking.net will save your patched toidata_release.l7c to your GAMETITLEID folder
  - If the website saves your file elsewhere, move it to your GAMETITLEID folder
4. Either delete or rename the original toidata_release.l7c file and rename the newly patched toidata_release (patched).l7c file to toidata_release.l7c
If your English patch extracted folder includes a data.psarc.xdelta file:
1. ROM Hack: Click Browse and navigate to Emulation/storage/Vita3K/uxo/app/GAMETITLEID/gamedata and select the data.psarc file
  - To locate your game's Title ID, open Vita3K, right click a game, and click Information
2. Patch File: Navigate to your extracted English patch folder from Step 2 and select the data.psarc.xdelta file
3. Click Apply Patch, romhacking.net will save your patched data.psarc to your GAMETITLEID folder
  - If the website saves your file elsewhere, move it to your GAMETITLEID folder
4. Either delete or rename the original data.psarc file and rename the newly patched data (patched).psarc file to data.psarc
Your English patch will now be applied

How to Configure Language Settings

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UI

In Desktop Mode, open Vita3K
At the top, click Configuration
Click Settings
Click the GUI tab
To the left of GUI Language, select your preferred language in the drop-down menu

In-Game

In Desktop Mode, open Vita3K
Open the Settings application, click Start
- The Settings application will be in your game list. By default, it will look like a toolbag with a green background
Click Language
Click System Language
Select your preferred language in the drop-down menu