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Getting Started (Legacy)

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SuperfieldCU edited this page Aug 23, 2026 · 3 revisions

Introduction to Text-Modding the Legacy Kingdom Hearts Games

As covered previously, the legacy Kingdom Hearts games are Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, and Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD. The first four are found in the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMix compilation, available for purchase on PC on Steam or Epic. Dream Drop Distance HD is in the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue compilation, also available on Steam or Epic. You'll obviously first have to own the game(s) you want to mod from one of these platforms and install it.

It's recommended to install both compilations on a single platform and not split them across multiple ones, as some of the tools involved will likely assume that, say, your 2.8 install is on Steam if your 1.5+2.5 install is. Personally, I recommend you go with Steam, especially if you play PC games on multiple devices, such as a main PC and a handheld (this goes double if that handheld happens to be a Steam Deck - it's possible to install the Epic versions on a Steam Deck with mods, but it's way easier with the Steam versions and you get cloud saves).

When it comes to installing or creating mods for the legacy Kingdom Hearts games, your best friend is OpenKH.

0: Download OpenKH

OpenKH (download latest release here) is a suite of modding tools made specifically for the legacy Kingdom Hearts games. The most important tool of all is the Mods Manager (OpenKh.Tools.ModsManager.exe), which allows you to prepare your Kingdom Hearts game installations for modding, install and manage mods, and configure key settings.

Download the latest version of OpenKH from the link above and extract the .zip file into a convenient location on a storage device with plenty of room (if you plan on making and/or installing mods for all five of the legacy games, plan on the OpenKH folder taking up 130 GB of space... and this is entirely separate from your Steam/Epic game installs!).

1: Extract the game files

  1. With OpenKH installed, run the Mods Manager (OpenKh.Tools.ModsManager.exe).
  2. The set-up wizard should appear, but if it doesn't, it is found under Settings -> Run wizard. If you see a Welcome to OpenKH Mods Manager message, press Next.
  3. You should see a number of dropdown options. Set Game edition to PC Release, Global in the next dropdown, and indicate whether you have the Steam or Epic versions of the games installed.
  4. Clicking the Detect Installations button should automatically populate the next fields with the directories of your 1.5+2.5 and 2.8 installs, but double-check them to be sure. Click Next once done.
  5. You should be on a screen that is talking about a feature called "Panacea". This is a nifty feature related to the installation and running of mods, and it can be extremely helpful in the mod testing process, but it isn't directly related to extracting the game files. Nevertheless, I recommend installing Panacea to save storage space and time - if you have both 1.5+2.5 and 2.8, be sure to use the dropdown to switch to both compilations and install Panacea for both. Press Next once done.
  6. You should be on a screen that is talking about a feature called "Lua Backend". Some mods, rather than altering underlying game files, are scripts that interfere with the game while it is running. These mods use Lua Backend. If you plan on using such mods, go ahead and install Lua Backend for any of the games that use them, but again, this isn't directly related to extracting the game files. Press Next once done.
  7. If you are using the Steam version, the next page will be talking about the ability to launch games directly. If you are on Epic, this screen is skipped. By adding a one-line text file to the root of the Steam install, you are able to launch into the individual games within each compilation directly by opening their .exe file, bypassing the launcher that allows you to choose which game you want to play (and its unskippable logos). You can even add the .exe's to Steam as a non-Steam game to facilitate launching them directly. Either way, Steam will consider the games launched this way to be you playing the compilation the game is in, so playtime, achievements, etc. will be considered the same as if you had gone through the trouble of sitting through the launcher. Press Next once done.
  8. HERE'S what we're really here for: the game file extraction. The legacy Kingdom Hearts game files are stored in .pkg files - we need to extract the files from these .pkg's if we want to alter and make mods out of them. Check all the games you'd like to extract the data for, consider how much space those extracted files will take up, set your extracted data file location (by default, a data folder within the OpenKH directory), and press Extract game data. This can take a very long time, but once it is done, we've finally extracted the legacy game files! Click Next and Finish, and you may now close the Mods Manager.

2: Find the file that contains the text you wish to change.

This is the point where we have to split off and tackle each game individually.

  • Modding Text in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
  • Modding Text in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories --UNDER CONSTRUCTION--
  • Modding Text in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix --UNDER CONSTRUCTION--
  • Modding Text in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix --UNDER CONSTRUCTION--
  • Modding Text in Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD --UNDER CONSTRUCTION--

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