About
A 2003 hack-and-slash action game based on Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, built using digital assets from the movies. A direct follow-up to EA's The Two Towers game, it splits its levels across three story paths from the film: Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli, Gandalf, and Frodo/Sam. It is fondly remembered for its drop-in two-player local co-op and remains a delisted, no-longer-sold title.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- ROTK.exe
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Proton
- Version
- GE-Proton
- Winetricks
- —
⚙ Setup notes
Game: 2003 hack-and-slash (EA Redwood Shores), delisted; runs as a non-Steam shortcut.
DRM blocker: The retail disc uses SafeDisc copy protection. SafeDisc is disabled on Windows 10/11 and is not emulated by Wine/Proton, so the original ROTK.exe will not launch. The legitimate community fix is to replace it with a SafeDisc-free ROTK.exe (a fixed executable for the version you own) so the game starts without the disc check.
Display / widescreen: Default resolution caps at 1024x768. Apply the Nemesis2000 widescreen fix (drops LOTRW.dll + LOTR.ini next to ROTK.exe) for proper widescreen. For modern systems add the d3d8 wrapper from Chip-Biscuit's "Return of the King PC Fix" (d3d8.dll + d3d8.ini) — set the target resolution in LOTR.ini, FPS cap/FOV in d3d8.ini. Use only that wrapper's d3d8.dll, not the one bundled with Nemesis2000.
Controller: The game expects DirectInput. On Deck use Steam Input (map the gamepad to keyboard/mouse, or use a community ROTK controller template) since native XInput is not present.
Install: Normal-install (or copy an installed folder), then drop the fixed ROTK.exe, widescreen fix, and d3d8 wrapper into the game folder beside the exe. deckport only configures the prefix — copy the patched game files in yourself.
The one thing to know
Supply your own copy: Delisted commercial title. Recipe describes setup only, not where to get the game — you must own it.
DRM blocker: Retail discs use SafeDisc, which does not run on modern Windows or under Proton. The game will not start until the original ROTK.exe is swapped for a SafeDisc-free fixed executable for your version. Recipe does not provide that file.
Status: needs-test — ROTK.exe and the fixes below are confirmed from PCGamingWiki, but nobody has hardware-tested this on the Deck.
Community fixes (drop into the game folder next to ROTK.exe): Nemesis2000 widescreen fix (LOTRW.dll + LOTR.ini) and the d3d8 wrapper from Chip-Biscuit's PC Fix (d3d8.dll + d3d8.ini) for resolution/FPS/FOV. Controller needs Steam Input (no native XInput).
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options, Proton version)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.