# sh23ds: Silent Hill 2 for Nintendo 3DS

> sh23ds is a native Nintendo 3DS port of Silent Hill 2, rebuilt in C from the 2001 PC Director's Cut with the fixes of Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition built in. It is free, open-source homebrew (GPLv3) that installs as a CIA or 3DSX on a 3DS with Luma3DS, and it reads game data that a packer makes from the player's own PC copy. The project ships no game files.

Key facts:

- What it is: a new engine written in C for the 3DS's ARM11 CPU and PICA200 GPU, ported function by function from the PC executable. It is not an emulator and not the 2024 remake.
- Consoles: New Nintendo 3DS, New 3DS XL and New 2DS XL at full settings; original 3DS, 3DS XL and 2DS with a lighter profile aimed at 30 fps.
- Requirements: Luma3DS custom firmware, FBI or the Homebrew Launcher, 1.3 GB on the SD card, and the PC release of Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut (sh2pc.exe MD5 f3f5360298b6d0f6f2e09cf24a0925d1). The v1.0 PC release isn't supported.
- Content: all 17 areas, every puzzle and boss, all six endings, New Game+, Born From a Wish, all 128 in-engine cutscenes and the FMVs, the PC camera, lighting, fog and flashlight, and music and sound from the game's own archives.
- Two screens: the game on the top screen; the map, items and memos on the touch screen.
- Game data: the packer runs in a desktop browser (Pyodide and ffmpeg.wasm, nothing uploaded) or in Docker (ghcr.io/ankushkun/sh23ds-packer). It uses Enhanced Edition packs if they are installed.
- Install: copy the packer's 3ds folder to the SD card root, then install sh23ds.cia with FBI (Remote Install, Scan QR Code) or from the SD card.
- Status: version 0.2.2, an experimental development build released October 2026. Every part of the game is in; a few of the PC's effects and finer behaviours are still to do.
- Author: Ankush Singh (ankushKun). Not affiliated with Konami or Nintendo.

## Pages

- [Home](https://ankush.one/sh23ds/): what the port covers, the FBI install code and common questions
- [Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1cs-1I2atc): the install on a real 3DS and the first fifteen minutes of play (14:22)
- [Install guide](https://ankush.one/sh23ds/install.html): the five steps from your PC copy to the HOME Menu, with a command builder for the Docker packer
- [Browser packer](https://ankush.one/sh23ds/packer.html): builds the SD card data from your game folder in the page
- [Roadmap](https://ankush.one/sh23ds/roadmap.html): every part's state and the release log
- [Docs](https://ankush.one/sh23ds/docs.html): architecture, building from source, releases, the debug file, the converters and porting a feature

## Source and downloads

- [GitHub repository](https://github.com/ankushKun/sh23ds): source, issues and the full README
- [README as Markdown](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ankushKun/sh23ds/main/README.md): install, game data, build, debugging, status and FAQ
- [Latest release](https://github.com/ankushKun/sh23ds/releases/latest): sh23ds.cia and sh23ds.3dsx with SHA-256 checksums
- [Status in detail](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ankushKun/sh23ds/main/port/STATUS.md): what works and what's left, in order of weight
- [Enhanced Edition fixes](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ankushKun/sh23ds/main/port/EE_FIXES.md): every Enhanced Edition option and its state in the port
- [Original 3DS profile](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ankushKun/sh23ds/main/port/OLD3DS.md): what changes on an original 3DS or 2DS

## Optional

- [Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition](https://enhanced.townofsilenthill.com/SH2/): the PC fix project whose work the port builds on
- [3DS Hacks Guide](https://3ds.hacks.guide/): setting up Luma3DS custom firmware
- [Writing 3DS homebrew in 2026](https://ankush.one/blogs/nintendo-3ds-homebrew/): the author's notes on the toolchain, 3DSX vs CIA and console-only bugs