Introduction

Many speedruns of Silksong are done on previous patches of the game because important skips and glitches have been added and removed over time. That being said, you are never required to run on the most optimal patch, and many runs can be done on current patch if that's what you want to use.

Most any% speedruns are done on either 1.0.28324 for the Cloakless NMG board, or usually 1.0.29242 for the Cloak board.

True ending, 100%, and many other categories including glitched runs, are also run on a variety of different patches respectively (typically however there is a trend to 1.0.28891). So downpatching has become incredibly important to get the version of the game that is most optimal, or in many cases required for your route.

If you're unsure of which patch to run, check what patch the run you're following uses or ask in the Hollow Knight Speedrunning Community discord.

Downpatching for Steam

A video guide for downpatching on Steam can be found here

In the future it has been said that patches will be available via the beta menu, similar to what Hollow Knight has currently. However for now, downpatching via the Steam console is required.

1) Open the Steam console -

For windows :

• Press the Win+R keys to open the run program, then type steam://nav/console or steam://open/console

For Linux:

• Navigate to the terminal (typically Ctrl+Alt+T) and type steam steam://open/console or steam steam://nav/console

• Alternatively you can try steam -console or steam -dev

For Mac:

• Typing steam://nav/console into your browser search bar

• Or, navigating to the terminal (Cmd+Space, then searching for Terminal) and typing

/Applications/Steam.app/Contents/MacOS/steam_osx -console

2) After opening the console you'll need three things, an app ID, depot ID and manifest ID. The first one is easy, Silksong's app ID is 1030300. Depot IDs will vary depending on your system - Windows - 1030301 Mac - 1030302 Linux - 1030303

However manifest ID's will vary depending on both the game version and system version of the game you're downloading.

A collection of depot and manifest ID's for each game version can be found here for convenience.

Within the steam console you'll need to type :

download_depot app_ID depot_ID manifest_ID

For some examples, if I want to download the Windows release of 1.0.28324 (aka release patch or RP) I would type :

download_depot 1030300 1030301 3229726349000518284

If I wanted to download the Mac release of version 1.0.28891 for I would type :

download_depot 1030300 1030302 2374057204384257562

If I wanted to download the Linux release of version 1.0.28714 for I would type :

download_depot 1030300 1030303 1617544312110692774

3) The version of the game you need will now start to download, once it finishes downloading head to the place it saved to (the steam console will tell you where this is) by default it will be within your steamapps content folder. ...\Steam\steamapps\content\app_1030300\depot_[YOUR DEPOT NUMBER HERE]

Move this depot folder somewhere else on your pc. It doesn't matter where, simply put it on your desktop if you like, as long as it is no longer within the steamapps folder. Additionally I recommend renaming this folder so you remember what it is.

4) Add the steam_appid.txt file into this folder. You can make this yourself by simply opening a notepad / text document, typing within it -1030300(simply just the number, nothing else) saving it, then naming this file -steam_appid (.txt if you have file name extensions on)

Or, if you like, simply click this link, to start downloading a copy of this file and put it in the folder.

5) Technically your downpatch is now complete, and opening the silksong.exe should open your downpatched copy of the game. However you may wish to add a shortcut of your game version on steam.

To do this, within your steam library, click "add a non-steam game" and navigate to where you put your newly downloaded game version (selecting Hollow Knight Silksong.exe). Again, I'd recommend naming this new steam launch within the properties, just so you remember which version it is.

Downpatching for GoG

Within the GoG galaxy client, navigate to your game > enter the customisation menu > Manage installation > Configure > Uncheck "Auto-Updates" > You can now select from a list which version of the game you want to play.

Note that not all versions are available on GoG.

Deleting Windows Registry

Some people have issues with their game after downpatching from current patch to an older patch. These might include the game crashing, not accepting inputs, performance issues, or a permanent black screen on launch. If you have weird issues like this, deleting Silksong's folder in your Registry might help.

Note this will revert any changes made to the settings, including but not limited to, any rebound controls, audio, video, and language settings. Additionally it may remove the option to use steel soul mode, however this can be easily obtained using a code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right - using the directional keys, or dpad on controller) in the extras menu to unlock steel soul mode easily.

For windows :

1) Press the Win+R keys together to open the run panel

2) Type in regedit and hit enter.

3) When reg edit is open navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Team Cherry\Hollow Knight Silksong

4) Delete the "Hollow Knight Silksong" folder (a confirmation window should popup asking if you want to delete this key and all its subkeys, select yes).

For Linux the equivalent is deleting this file :

(Note - if you're using proton, Protontricks would be needed to regedit like windows)

~/.config/unity3d/Team Cherry/Hollow Knight Silksong/pref

For Mac the equivalent is deleting this file :

$HOME/Library/Preferences/unity.Team Cherry.Hollow Knight Silksong.plist