u/xsirlalo

Gears of War 1, 2, 3 and Judgment — 4-player splitscreen on PC (Xenia Canary Netplay + Nucleus Co-Op)

Full guide with screenshots: https://github.com/xSirLalo/xenia-coop-gears-of-war

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ENGLISH

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Spent a weekend getting all four Gears games running in 4-player splitscreen on a single PC. Xenia Canary Netplay does the emulation, Nucleus Co-Op launches four instances and assigns controllers. Works great.

My rig:

- Windows 11 Pro (25H2)

- AMD Ryzen 7 5700X

- AMD Radeon RX 7600 8GB

- 16GB RAM

All four games run smooth with the performance patches.

Quick overview of what the full guide covers:

1. Install Nucleus Co-Op at C:\NucleusApp (whitelist in Defender)

2. Install Xenia Canary Netplay, update from Netplay menu, drop a portable.txt in root

3. Create 4 profiles inside Xenia (Player1 to Player4), copy each XUID

4. Drop my Nucleus handler into C:\NucleusApp\handlers, paste XUIDs and ROM paths into games.json, run the PowerShell generator script

5. Load Xenia in Nucleus, plug 4 controllers, hit play

6. DLC and Title Updates install from the main Xenia, NOT the Nucleus instances. Then symlink the content folder so instances share it

7. Drop performance patches in C:\NucleusApp\Xenia Canary Netplay\patches (Unlock FPS, disable AO, disable Motion Blur, etc.)

8. Optional: self-host the Xenia Web Service on LAN (Node + MongoDB) because the public Heroku server didn't work for me on same-network games

Tested with:

- Gears of War + DLC + TU

- Gears of War 2 + DLC + TU

- Gears of War 3 + DLC + TU

- Gears of War Judgment + DLC + TU

Step-by-step with all the JSON snippets, PowerShell commands and screenshots is at the link up top. Ask anything below.

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ESPAÑOL

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Pasé un fin de semana logrando que los cuatro Gears corrieran en pantalla dividida a 4 jugadores en una sola PC. Xenia Canary Netplay emula, Nucleus Co-Op lanza las cuatro instancias y reparte mandos. Funciona excelente.

Mi equipo:

- Windows 11 Pro (25H2)

- AMD Ryzen 7 5700X

- AMD Radeon RX 7600 8GB

- 16GB RAM

Los cuatro juegos corren fluidos con los patches de rendimiento.

Resumen rápido de lo que cubre la guía completa:

1. Instalar Nucleus Co-Op en C:\NucleusApp (whitelistear en Defender)

2. Instalar Xenia Canary Netplay, actualizar desde el menú Netplay, poner portable.txt en raíz

3. Crear 4 perfiles dentro de Xenia (Player1 a Player4), copiar cada XUID

4. Poner mi handler de Nucleus en C:\NucleusApp\handlers, pegar XUIDs y rutas de ROMs en games.json, correr el script PowerShell generador

5. Cargar Xenia en Nucleus, conectar 4 mandos, dar play

6. DLC y Title Updates se instalan desde el Xenia principal, NO desde las instancias de Nucleus. Después un symlink del content folder para que las instancias compartan

7. Patches de rendimiento van en C:\NucleusApp\Xenia Canary Netplay\patches (Unlock FPS, disable AO, disable Motion Blur, etc.)

8. Opcional: hostear el Xenia Web Service en LAN (Node + MongoDB) porque el servidor público de Heroku no me sirvió para partidas en la misma red

Probado con:

- Gears of War + DLC + TU

- Gears of War 2 + DLC + TU

- Gears of War 3 + DLC + TU

- Gears of War Judgment + DLC + TU

Paso a paso con todos los JSON, comandos PowerShell y screenshots en el link de arriba. Preguntas abajo.