Install overview

Supported platforms in this guide

NX2navi’s published player experience is 64-bit Windows. The Setup executable installs a launcher that builds the game locally from your dump. That is the path these pages document. There is no macOS disk image, no Linux AppImage, and no Steam Deck package on the GitHub Releases this guide tracks. A configuration example in the repository can mention a Deck device profile for people who already run the Windows build in unusual ways; that is not an install method. If a future tag ships another operating system, trust Assets on that tag, then wait for this page to catch up. Until then, NX2navi install means Windows plus your own dump.

How install relates to setup

Install ends when Setup has placed the launcher and you can start it. Setup is the next list: the launcher finds the dump, fetches tools, builds on this PC, prepares shaders, and opens the game. People mix the two because SmartScreen looks like an install failure while a missing dump looks like a broken build. Stay on the Windows page when the .exe will not run. Stay on Setup when the launcher opens but cannot finish a build. Use Troubleshoot when a previously working folder breaks after an update. Use Releases when you are not sure which Asset is the player file. Keep Setup and the dump on a short local path. Cloud-synced folders and network drives create permission puzzles that look like NX2navi bugs.

What success looks like

A successful NX2navi install is a launcher that starts, finds your dump, and eventually opens the rebuilt game. It is not a signed Microsoft Store package. The first build is slow on purpose: shaders are prepared so later play does not stall on compile. Later visits to new areas can still hitch briefly while the driver sees a pipeline it has not built. That is called out in Known issues upstream. If the window never appears, you are still on Install or Troubleshoot. If the window appears and then cannot find content, you are on Setup.

Updates without a second Setup

Once the launcher is installed, a later tag can arrive as an in-app update. Release notes for 0.5.0 told people on 0.4.0 to start the launcher and accept 0.5.0 rather than hunt a second .exe. After that class of update, the first boot can rebuild shaders again. If the launcher will not update, download Setup from the newer tag and run it the same way you did the first time. Rolling back means an older tag’s Setup on GitHub Releases.

Disk, path length, and what install is not

Keep Setup, the dump, and the folder the launcher creates on a local NTFS volume with a short path. OneDrive, Dropbox, and network shares lock files while a compile is writing them, then report a random tool crash. Spaces in the path are usually fine; a path that already hits Windows’ legacy length limit is not. After Setup has placed the launcher, you still owe the machine a dump and a quiet twenty minutes. The GitHub Asset is the launcher path, not a store-style package that already contains the title.

How these pages map to repo docs

Install on this site is the Windows Setup path from README.md and the release notes. First-time setup paraphrases docs/launcher.md: find the dump, fetch tools, compile, prepare shaders. Controls paraphrases docs/controls.md. Hardware restates the README floor. Setup versus source points at docs/building.md and docs/README-BuildKit.md without reprinting the compiler flags. Architecture details live in docs/architecture.md for people who already opened a source tree. CONTRIBUTING.md is the bug template. If two sentences disagree, open the file on GitHub and treat that as current. This install overview only exists so you do not mix those documents: you do not need Visual Studio to play, and you do not need F1 remaps before the first window appears.

FAQ

Do I compile NX2navi to install it?

No for the player path. Download Setup, place it next to your dump, and run it. Source builds are optional and live under Setup versus Source.

Which file is the installer?

NX2navi-Setup-<version>.exe. Other zips on the release are for the launcher’s own updates, not a second game install.

Is there a Linux or macOS page?

No. This guide only documents the Windows Setup.