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Dolphin - Emulating Wii and Gamecube Games

shockdude

Member
I'm having trouble trying to play any games in Dolphin all of a sudden, the emulator reports 60 VPS and 60 FPS, but I'm absolutely certain the games are running at 30 FPS, which sucks, I've deleted all of my settings twice over and looked at various settings to see what might be wrong but I can't find anything that explains it.

I just wanted to replay Metroid Prime in HD :(
Are you using borderless fullscreen? VSync?
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Are you using borderless fullscreen? VSync?

Windowed mode, no vsync, it's just weird. Tried both DirectX and OpenGL driver.

Edit: Now this is weird. I enabled Vsync and the problem went away :lol. What the hell? I mean before it acted like it was double buffered vsync at 30 FPS, so it must have been some weird shit going on with vsync specifically.

Glorious 60fps.

People forget how stunning MP1 was at release

Certainly one of, if not the most impressive games released in the year 2001.
 
Certainly one of, if not the most impressive games released in the year 2001.
2002, but yeah, Metroid Prime was something else. I remember being glued to the demo kiosk for it at EB Games while my friends wandered off without me because I wouldn't get off. Blew my 12 year old mind.
 

TheDanger

Banned
Did anyone ever have the issue that games sometimes run too fast, I don't really understand why, the frame rate never goes above 60 (game was 60 originally) as I have v sync enabled.

The game is Buffy Chaos Bleeds, it runs at the normal speed most of the time, but if there are more than 1 or 2 enemies on screen it pretty much always runs way too fast even though the frame rate never changes from 60.

This is the only game I can test at the moment.
 

PGamer

fucking juniors
Did anyone ever have the issue that games sometimes run too fast, I don't really understand why, the frame rate never goes above 60 (game was 60 originally) as I have v sync enabled.

The game is Buffy Chaos Bleeds, it runs at the normal speed most of the time, but if there are more than 1 or 2 enemies on screen it pretty much always runs way too fast even though the frame rate never changes from 60.

This is the only game I can test at the moment.

What do you have framelimit set to? Set it to Auto if it isn't already.
 

Tornix

Member
That's actually a great deal. Thank you for sharing!

Has anyone purchased a refurb from Nintendo and had any issues?

[EDIT] Ended up buying the red refurb Remote Plus/Nunchuck for $25. I'll finally be able to finish Skyward Sword!

I bought one about a month ago. Haven't had any problems.
 

Big Nikus

Member
So I've just started using Dolphin a few days ago, and I'm looking for a bluetooth adapter to connect a wiimote and/or a Wii U Pro controller. Otherwise I would have bought the Dolphin Bar, but it works only for the wiimote apparently (and I'll need a DS4 in a few weeks too, so I guess the bluetooth adapter is the way to go).
If I understand correctly, I can buy almost any bluetooth adapter, then I install the bluetooth toshiba stack, and I'm ready to go ?
I was going for this one, I don't want to put more money on it but I don't trust the 2$ thingies either.

I'm playing Donkey Kong Country Returns at 1080p/60fps and it's a blessing (couldn't finish it on Wii, I usually don't mind motion controls but I hated it on this one). It runs perfectly, though I had to spend quite a few hours to get it to run smoothly without audio issues. I'm playing with a 360 controller and as much as I love it for other games, the D-Pad is awful for platformers, really uncomfortable. I want to play this one with the Wii U Pro, then Xenoblade Chronicles some time later :)
 

Big Nikus

Member
Alright, I bought a bluetooth dongle and followed instructions to install it properly so that the Wii U Pro controller would be detected by the PC, and it works. But now, Dolphin keeps crashing as soon as I uses WiinUPro... I've been searching but I've not found anything to fix the issue so, if anyone can help me it would be great.

Otherwise, I'll keep using the 360 pad, though I don't like it for Wii games.
 

shaowebb

Member
Finally up and using dolphin for some sweet texture mods for Tatsunoko vs Capcom and to enjoy more online play with it. Thing is I need a new processor since mine is running like as these days. Graphics card is good though but it's time to go in on some upgrades anyhow. 4.4 ghz here I come. Love looking at my Polymer in HD though.
 

En-ou

Member
OMG i just tried Zelda Master Quest on Dolphin in NVidia 3D Vision!! works like a charm. guess just found my next game to replay after i finish Awakening. The best thing about Dolphin is that I'm able to play almost all Wii and GC games in full 3D :)
 

JEKKI

Member
aw man, gotta hecka random question.

I jus got the mayflash wii dolphin bar thing, and I confirmed it works with my PC. I can use it with Dolphin as well as use it to emulate mouse with my wiimote.

question is, can I use it as a sensor bar with my Wii U??

I tried but havent figured it out yet...

I synced my wii mote to my wii U, then plugged the Mayflash into my Wii U via the USB ports,

what happens is when I press the Sync button on the Mayflash, it begins looking for something to sync with, but it also turns "on" so the light feedback between the bar and my wii mote allows me to use my wii mote pointer with my Wii U menu screens.

the problem is, since I am not syncing my mote to the mayflash, it eventually decides it cannot find a sync partner and turns off, thus I cannot use my wii pointer anymore until I press the Sync button on the mayflash again...

does that make any sense? lol.

basically, is there any way I can use the mayflash as a regular sensor bar for my Wii U?

or is there a way to keep the Mayflash On / Active without it having a device to sync to at the moment? (since my mote will be synced to the wii u and not to the mayflash/PC)

I tried using google to find a solution but couldnt find lol, maybe somebody here might know.
 
aw man, gotta hecka random question.

I jus got the mayflash wii dolphin bar thing, and I confirmed it works with my PC. I can use it with Dolphin as well as use it to emulate mouse with my wiimote.

question is, can I use it as a sensor bar with my Wii U??

I tried but havent figured it out yet...

I synced my wii mote to my wii U, then plugged the Mayflash into my Wii U via the USB ports,

what happens is when I press the Sync button on the Mayflash, it begins looking for something to sync with, but it also turns "on" so the light feedback between the bar and my wii mote allows me to use my wii mote pointer with my Wii U menu screens.

the problem is, since I am not syncing my mote to the mayflash, it eventually decides it cannot find a sync partner and turns off, thus I cannot use my wii pointer anymore until I press the Sync button on the mayflash again...

does that make any sense? lol.

basically, is there any way I can use the mayflash as a regular sensor bar for my Wii U?

or is there a way to keep the Mayflash On / Active without it having a device to sync to at the moment? (since my mote will be synced to the wii u and not to the mayflash/PC)

I tried using google to find a solution but couldnt find lol, maybe somebody here might know.

It makes sense, and I have no idea. This sounds like a rare, if understandable, use case.
 

Iceternal

Member
Okay GAF I need help, what render should I be using for Mario Galaxy,Xenoblade and Donkey Kong?

I keep seeing people with weaker hardware get steady 60fps with Mario Galaxy and steady 30FPS with HD textures and insane resolution with Xenoblade.

I'm trying to play both these damn games and I just cant get stable 30(xenoblade) or 60(mario galaxy).(3 or 4 x native neither works perfectly)

SPECS:

i7 5820K@4.3GHZ
GTX 980 TI G1
16GB DDR4@2133MHZ
Windows 10 Pro 64-BIT

I've used multiple builds always the same, please someone help as it is driving me nuts,I;m not even running HD textures for xenoblade,at this point I'm going to cry and play it on my Wii U.

I've got a similar rig and I've got the same problem ... I just can't run Xenoblade correctly.

The stuttering is terrible ! Can someone help ?
 
I've got a similar rig and I've got the same problem ... I just can't run Xenoblade correctly.

The stuttering is terrible ! Can someone help ?

Is the stuttering there when you turn custom textures off? How about when you turn everything off? (lowest resolution etc)

Edit: I think the emulator in an emulator deserves an Xzibit nod.
 

Iceternal

Member
Is the stuttering there when you turn custom textures off? How about when you turn everything off? (lowest resolution etc)

Edit: I think the emulator in an emulator deserves an Xzibit nod.

Turning off custom textures doesn't change anything.

I don't know if it is actual stuttering or framerate drops though. But with a 980ti and a 4790k I shouldn't get framerate drops ... I'm only running it at 3x native res...

But it's definitely not a smooth experience.
 

shockdude

Member
Turning off custom textures doesn't change anything.

I don't know if it is actual stuttering or framerate drops though. But with a 980ti and a 4790k I shouldn't get framerate drops ... I'm only running it at 3x native res...

But it's definitely not a smooth experience.
Might be shader cache stuttering.
I haven't played Xenoblade, but is it possible to backtrack to an earlier area? Do you still get drops in those areas?
 
Anybody here know how effective a Surface Book (i5/8gb ram/dGPU) would work on Dolphin, I'm not trying to do any crazy stuff, I just want to run games like Xenoblade to run smoothly at maybe 720p resolution?
 
Anybody here know how effective a Surface Book (i5/8gb ram/dGPU) would work on Dolphin, I'm not trying to do any crazy stuff, I just want to run games like Xenoblade to run smoothly at maybe 720p resolution?
You won't have any issue since the Book has a 940m in its insides. It should more than enough to play at 720p or even 1080p.
 
I've got a similar rig and I've got the same problem ... I just can't run Xenoblade correctly.

The stuttering is terrible ! Can someone help ?

is it stuttering everywhere or only when it needs to load some effect for the first time?

i have a similar hardware but probably different OS/driver versions. during a battle it will stutter quite a bit when I've just started a session, but after that it's perfectly smooth.

I suspect it's because all the things it needs get cached, so that whenever something is no longer being shown for the first time it doesn't have any slowdowns
 
It's 2.4ghz, but at the same time, some people on reddit and gaf said that the Surface Pro 3 works pretty well for Dolphin and PCSX2, so on the Surface Book, most games should work no problem.

"Pretty well" is subjective. Emulators depend on per core clock speed more than anything. Dolphin specifically runs much better at or above 4GHz. You can probably play some games "pretty well," but you won't be having the same experience as someone with a faster cpu.
 
"Pretty well" is subjective. Emulators depend on per core clock speed more than anything. Dolphin specifically runs much better at or above 4GHz. You can probably play some games "pretty well," but you won't be having the same experience as someone with a faster cpu.

It's not like I'm trying to max everything out, my PC is not that good.

-Nvidia GT 610
-AMD Phenon II X6 1055T (2.8ghz)
-4GB Ram

And even that can run most games (Brawl, Xenoblade; Mario Kart) at 1x internal resolution with little stuttering, so I think Dolphin would work fine on the Surface Book (i5/dGPU model)
 

nkarafo

Member
I'm still using a few months old version of Dolphin because in every recent version i try, the menus and cutscenes in Rogue Leader are slow, like 30% of the speed slow. And it doesn't even use my CPU at all, it's hovering at 10% CPU usage or something. I don't know what happened. Never changed a single option.
 

Iceternal

Member
is it stuttering everywhere or only when it needs to load some effect for the first time?

i have a similar hardware but probably different OS/driver versions. during a battle it will stutter quite a bit when I've just started a session, but after that it's perfectly smooth.

I suspect it's because all the things it needs get cached, so that whenever something is no longer being shown for the first time it doesn't have any slowdowns

Well I'm only in the first area so it's hard to tell but even in cutscenes, I get drops even though characters aren't moving so it shouldn't be loading new assets I think.

Or maybe it comes from the LOD system in the game ?

Like the worst drops I get are when I run inside the city with all the NPCs etc.
 

nkarafo

Member
I still don't know what i need for directX 12.

I know Windows 10 is a requirement. But what kind of cards support this? I'm confused because current cards say that they support it but "not fully"?

Is DirectX 12 even usable at the moment?
 
Tried it on my laptop

GTX 850M, i5 4210U

I ran the TP intro without frame limit.

Result: DX11 its between 170-280%

DX12 unbelievable 280-500% the intro was done in a couple of seconds. Thats a massive gain.

Also, I tested Mario Sunshine. The first island.

DX11: 200%

DX12: 380%

Much faster.

I'm very pleased with Dolphin in general, but this is a revolution in emulation.

Note also that the DX11 build runs with fast EFB access from Ishiiruka, which gives it a nice performance gain, while DX12 runs without any speed hacks.
 

JGCD

Neo Member
Building a new comp and considering playing my Wii games on it

Should I7-6700k be enough?

I kinda wanna play Zelda, xenoblade, Mario galaxy, and some of my gamecube as well

Also does GPU matter? My build going with a 980ti
 

xJavonta

Banned
Building a new comp and considering playing my Wii games on it

Should I7-6700k be enough?

I kinda wanna play Zelda, xenoblade, Mario galaxy, and some of my gamecube as well

Also does GPU matter? My build going with a 980ti
Plenty.

I'm still rocking an i3 2100 (sandy bridge lmao) and I have pretty much zero issues.
 

me0wish

Member
Building a new comp and considering playing my Wii games on it

Should I7-6700k be enough?

I kinda wanna play Zelda, xenoblade, Mario galaxy, and some of my gamecube as well

Also does GPU matter? My build going with a 980ti

You could run the ps3 emulator with these specs.
 
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