Broadcast-quality player stats for Retro Rewind. Rewind Overlay turns official Retro WFC data into a configurable OBS/TikTok source and a transparent, always-on-top desktop widget.
It tracks the active player automatically through Wheel Wizard, shows current VR, the authoritative gain or loss from the last race, global rank and rank movement, and animates each change without manual stream-deck updates.
Rewind Overlay is an independent community project. It is not affiliated with Nintendo, Retro Rewind, Retro WFC, Wheel Wizard, or OBS.
The same renderer powers the Studio preview, OBS Browser Source, and floating desktop window:
- Desktop or zero-install web. Use the automatic companion app or configure a hosted HTTPS source in a browser; every surface shares the same renderer.
- Automatic identity. Resolves Wheel Wizard's selected Dolphin user directory and derives the active friend code from the RetroWFC save. Console players can enter a friend code.
- Official data. Reads RWFC room status, player leaderboard, per-race history and Mii image endpoints. No account, token, scraping, or memory injection.
- Accurate race deltas. The last-race value comes from the server's race history, not a potentially ambiguous difference between polling snapshots.
- Deep art direction. Upload, crop, pan, zoom and filter a background; adjust tint, contrast, saturation, blur and glass treatment.
- Advanced light engine. Prism, chaser, pulse, wave, ghost and solid frames with independent colors, speed, width, radius and glow.
- Event animation. Choose count, spring, flip, impact or no motion separately for VR and rank; large gains can trigger a celebration.
- Mii control. Show or remove the Mii icon, use a clear backing, or choose solid and gradient backing colors.
- Per-element layout. Independently move and resize the avatar, name, context, VR, race change, rank, and VR label.
- Stream-safe. Localhost-only server, no telemetry, persistent profiles, reconnect handling and a reduced-motion option.
Open the zero-install Web Overlay Studio. Enter a friend code, style the badge with the same content, Mii, background, border, animation, and element controls as the desktop edition, then copy the generated source URL.
- In OBS, add the URL as a Browser Source.
- In TikTok LIVE Studio, add it as a Link / Web Page Source.
- No Rewind server, account, or paid hosting is involved. The static page polls the public RWFC API directly and stores the profile in the configured URL.
The browser sandbox cannot automatically read Wheel Wizard licenses, so the web edition uses a friend code. Local backgrounds are supported: the Studio resizes and compresses the image in-browser, then embeds it in the configured source URL and portable JSON profile. The desktop app remains the full-featured option for automatic multi-license following and the always-on-top floating window. See the web overlay guide.
- Download
Rewind Overlay Setup <version>.exefrom the latest GitHub release. - Run Rewind Overlay. The Studio and floating overlay open together.
- In Player, leave detection on Automatic if Wheel Wizard is installed, or choose Friend code for a console.
- Turn off Preview mode when you are ready for live RWFC data.
A portable Windows build is published alongside the installer. macOS and Linux packages are generated by the release workflow; automatic Wheel Wizard identity depends on the launcher/save layout documented in Data integration.
Rewind Overlay includes an OBS Lua integration:
- Keep Rewind Overlay running.
- In OBS, open Tools → Scripts, click +, and choose
rewind-overlay.luafrom the installed app'sresources/obsfolder. - Set the canvas size if desired and click Add overlay to current scene.
OBS receives an independent Browser Source directly from the app. Do not use Window or Display Capture on the floating badge: Windows stops drawing a hidden or minimized window. With the Browser Source, you can hide the desktop badge and the stream overlay continues updating.
For manual setup, add a Browser Source with:
URL: http://127.0.0.1:19488/overlay?obs=1
Width: 900
Height: 260
FPS: 60
The page is transparent. Leave custom CSS empty. See the OBS guide for exact installation paths and troubleshooting.
The desktop window is transparent, self-sizing, draggable and always on top. Enable Click through once it is positioned so the game receives all mouse input. The tray menu remains available to turn click-through off, show or hide the overlay, and reopen Studio.
Wheel Wizard save ──► local identity resolver ─┐
├─► player state ─► shared renderer ─► OBS Browser Source
Official RWFC API ─► room/player/race adapters ┘ └─► desktop window
Rewind Overlay binds its UI/API service to 127.0.0.1:19488; it is not exposed to the network. Player statistics are fetched directly from the official public RWFC endpoints. Details, schemas, fallback behavior and rate-limit policy are in Data integration, with the underlying validation notes in Research.
Requirements: Node.js 22 or later, npm, and Git.
npm install
npm run devQuality gates:
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run build
npm run smoke:web
npm run packageThe renderer is React + TypeScript. Electron owns the transparent windows, localhost service, settings persistence and RWFC adapters. See Architecture.
Release-by-release fixes are documented in the changelog.
- No telemetry or analytics.
- No account credentials.
- Settings and uploaded artwork stay in Electron's local application-data directory.
- The service listens only on loopback.
- External player/Mii URLs are rendered as images; user HTML is never executed.
- Production dependencies are checked in CI with
npm audit --omit=dev.
Please report vulnerabilities privately as described in SECURITY.md.
Released under the MIT License. Mario Kart, Wii and Nintendo are trademarks of Nintendo. OBS is a trademark of the OBS Project. Other names belong to their respective owners.