# Installing GameCube and Wii Texture Packs

> How to install a GameCube or Wii texture pack in Dolphin: where the Load/Textures folder is, how the game ID folder works and what to check when it fails.

Web page: https://emulationking.com/nintendo/gamecube/texturepacks/how-to-install/
Page updated: 2026-10-31

GameCube and Wii texture packs on this site are made for Dolphin. Dolphin swaps a game's own textures for the pack's files while the game runs, so the disc image is never changed and a pack can be removed at any time.

> [!NOTE]
> Each pack page has the short version of these steps, with the exact folder name for that game. This page explains them in more detail.

## 1. Find Dolphin's Load/Textures folder

In Dolphin, open **File > Open User Folder**. Inside it, open `Load`, then `Textures`. Create the `Textures` folder if it isn't there yet.

Every texture pack goes in its own folder inside `Load/Textures/`.

## 2. Extract the pack into a folder named after the game ID

Dolphin only loads a pack from a folder whose name matches the game's ID. The pack pages name the folder to use, for example `GAF` for Animal Crossing or `RMC` for Mario Kart Wii. When the extraction is done, the pack's files should be directly inside `Load/Textures/<ID>/`.

- A three-character ID, such as `GZL`, covers every release of the game: the USA, Europe and Japan versions share those first three characters. A full six-character ID, such as `GZLE01`, covers one release only.
- The game ID is shown in Dolphin's game list (the **Game ID** column) and under **Properties > Info** when right-clicking a game.
- Wii Virtual Console games have their own IDs. A pack for the Virtual Console release of an N64 game, such as Paper Mario (`NAE`), goes in the folder for that ID.

> [!WARNING]
> Some archives already contain the ID folder, and some contain the texture files on their own. Check that the extraction does not create an extra folder level, such as `Load/Textures/GAF/GAF/`.

## 3. Turn on custom textures

Open **Graphics > Advanced** and tick **Load Custom Textures**. Dolphin then loads the pack the next time the game starts.

> [!TIP]
> **Prefetch Custom Textures** loads the whole pack into memory when the game starts, which stops the short pauses that can happen as new textures are first loaded. Large packs need a lot of RAM for this, so leave it off on computers with little memory.

## When a pack doesn't load

- Check that the folder name matches the game's ID, and that the textures sit directly inside it.
- Check that **Load Custom Textures** is ticked, then restart the game.
- A pack made with one release of a game can miss some textures on another release or language, where the game's textures differ.