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Dolphin - Emulating Wii and Gamecube Games

Randomizer

Randomizer

Member
weeskwee said:
anyone hear of any issues converting super smash bros brawl to an ISO? it's the only one that fails for me so far. :(
Click to expand...

The only thing I can think of is that it's a dual layered DVD9. Your Wii's lens might need cleaned as Wii disc drives are known to have issues with DVD9 discs. Does the game still run on your Wii?
 
D

Drkirby

Corporate Apologist
weeskwee said:
argh. from what i have been reading, the only way to rip gamecube games is on a hacked gamecube. is this true?

i have a small collection of gamecube games (wind waker and eternal darkness being 2 of them) and am sad i wont be able to play them on dolphin. :(
Click to expand...

You can use a Wii with some Homebrew Applications too.
 
Randomizer

Randomizer

Member
Fahrenheit said:
Seems like whenever I play around with dolphin i get audio glitches. Would getting my LLE DSP from my wii help with that?
Click to expand...

Possibly but it is very demanding and anything short of an overclocked i5 or i7 sandybridge might not be up to the task. What games in particular are affected? The only games that I have had audio glitches with are Xenoblade and the missing music in the Mario Galaxys. Using DSP LLE did fix both these problems with some small performance drops in certain instances.
 
T

Thrakier

Member
Thoraxes said:
I think it's mostly in accordance to how the motion+ automatically re-orients itself whenever it can pick up the sensor bar and with some sluggishness of picking up the actual motions I do. It's not horrible, but it's enough that it throws off the agility I as used to when playing on the actual Wii itself.

This could be a number of many things though, and could even be related to my hardware or bluetooth adapter.
Click to expand...

Like I said before, I don't have those problems you describe.

Hey now, I made these settings way back when the demo came out for the demo. In multiple posts since then I have constantly said that they may not carry over as well to the actual full game, which in my case they have not. Also I know what each does, know what they effect, and how that relates to overall performance, and in general it's helped many people out as you can see. No need to call me a fool for not knowing what does what, because I do what affects what, why, and how.
Click to expand...

I was under the impression you don't because I asekd for explanation and didn't get one (besides the text that Dolphin states). I still think that some of the things you checked do nothing for the image quality but they actually hurt the performance.

Also, what's your PC like? i7 2600k @5.0GHZ?
 
linko9

linko9

Member
FreeMufasa said:
I've got Baten Kaitos on the way. Anyone have screens of what it looks like on Dolphin?
Click to expand...

Well, it's got prerendered backgrounds, so it's not going to look nearly as good as other games do when running at a higher resolution. I remember running FF7 at a really high resolution in an emulator, and it just looks silly with the ridiculously sharp character models against the blurry-as-hell backgrounds. Perhaps some filtering on the backgrounds can make it look visually cohesive, but I wouldn't hope for too much...
 
F

FreeMufasa

Junior Member
linko9 said:
Well, it's got prerendered backgrounds, so it's not going to look nearly as good as other games do when running at a higher resolution. I remember running FF7 at a really high resolution in an emulator, and it just looks silly with the ridiculously sharp character models against the blurry-as-hell backgrounds. Perhaps some filtering on the backgrounds can make it look visually cohesive, but I wouldn't hope for too much...
Click to expand...

Ah ok. I can't even run dolphin anyway. Just wanted to see what it looks like.
 
D

Datschge

Member
weeskwee said:
One single problem remains. Motion controls with the Wiimote. I have an old Pelican wireless sensor bar that I have not used for 2 years. I can't seem to get it to do anything. Changed the batteries, turned it on. How does this thing even work?! There is no cable to connect to the wii or pc. It just takes batteries and has 1 reset button. Wtf! Wish there was a way to use the wii sensor bar, but the cable connector is unique to the wii.
Click to expand...

The sensor bar is just a set of two IR lights, that's why there are so many cheap wireless sensor bars. You could also use two candles in its place. If you want to check if your wireless sensor bar works go into the Wii Settings on the Wii > Page 2 > Sensor Bar > Sensitivity > OK. There you'll be able to see if, at what distances and at what sensitivity levels your Wiimote can see the sensor bar (cover or disconnect the wired sensor bar while doing so).
 
W

weeskwee

Banned
Randomizer said:
The only thing I can think of is that it's a dual layered DVD9. Your Wii's lens might need cleaned as Wii disc drives are known to have issues with DVD9 discs. Does the game still run on your Wii?
Click to expand...

I got it working. The issue was with Wii Backup Manager. It would not convert Super Smash Bros Brawl to ISO no matter what.
I installed Wii Backup Fusion 1.1 and it worked flawlessly.
 
T

Thrakier

Member
So is there any chance we could clarify if dolphin Wiimote + Emulation is really as good as the original or if it's lackluster? I didn't notice a difference for Zelda so far but I'm not too sure. I thought about buying WiiSports Resort but only if WM+ is supported as good as on the Wii, other than that it makes no sense. So maybe someone knows some details about that?
 
V

Varna

Member
Having an issue getting the text speed up Gecko codes to work on Dolphin. Anyone have any tips? Getting a "no back patch support" error every time I try and talk to someone. All the other kinds of codes work fine though
 
S

StevieP

Banned
Thrakier said:
So is there any chance we could clarify if dolphin Wiimote + Emulation is really as good as the original or if it's lackluster? I didn't notice a difference for Zelda so far but I'm not too sure. I thought about buying WiiSports Resort but only if WM+ is supported as good as on the Wii, other than that it makes no sense. So maybe someone knows some details about that?
Click to expand...

Wii Sports Resort worked perfectly for me... at least I remember it doing so. Been awhile.
 
T

Thrakier

Member
I think I do know now why some people complain about the WM+ controls on Dolphin. I guess they are probably using their Monitor instead of the TV which means that they are much closer to the screen. I just tried that and my WM+ get's constantly misaligned and movements aren't as precise. So it's actually not a Dolphin problem but more of a Wii-Tech problem.
 
R

Red

Member
Thrakier said:
I think I do know now why some people complain about the WM+ controls on Dolphin. I guess they are probably using their Monitor instead of the TV which means that they are much closer to the screen. I just tried that and my WM+ get's constantly misaligned and movements aren't as precise. So it's actually not a Dolphin problem but more of a Wii-Tech problem.
Click to expand...
I assume this as well. It has to do with how close you sit to the sensor bar, so that it can help recalibrate m+.
 
D

dinosaur_hunter2

Member
I hope the embedded bluetooth sensor that came with my ASUS P8Z68-V motherboard is compatible with the wiimote. If so, I'm gonna try some games on Dolphin :D

Too bad I'm 15 hours in Skyward Sword. If it'd be that amazing playing in 1080p, I'd gladly come back for it.
 
S

StevieP

Banned
Thrakier said:
I think I do know now why some people complain about the WM+ controls on Dolphin. I guess they are probably using their Monitor instead of the TV which means that they are much closer to the screen. I just tried that and my WM+ get's constantly misaligned and movements aren't as precise. So it's actually not a Dolphin problem but more of a Wii-Tech problem.
Click to expand...

My HTPC is connected to my ComfyCouch© - though the controls work most of the time. It just needs the occasional calibration, be it self (by pointing or skyward strike) or the d-pad down.

dinosaur_hunter2 said:
I hope the embedded bluetooth sensor that came with my ASUS P8Z68-V motherboard is compatible with the wiimote. If so, I'm gonna try some games on Dolphin :D

Too bad I'm 15 hours in Skyward Sword. If it'd be that amazing playing in 1080p, I'd gladly come back for it.
Click to expand...

That bluetooth adapter will work fine. Though I found its range kinda crappy. I added another USB bluetooth adapter and it seems that gave me slightly better range. Then again, my PC is not too close to my ComfyCouch©
 
D

dinosaur_hunter2

Member
StevieP said:
That bluetooth adapter will work fine. Though I found its range kinda crappy. I added another USB bluetooth adapter and it seems that gave me slightly better range. Then again, my PC is not too close to my ComfyCouch©
Click to expand...
That's very nice to know! What distance are you talking about? My ComfyCouch© is about 5 feet far from the PC. Do you think it'll hold it up?
 
T

Thoraxes

Member
Thrakier said:
I was under the impression you don't because I asekd for explanation and didn't get one (besides the text that Dolphin states). I still think that some of the things you checked do nothing for the image quality but they actually hurt the performance.

Also, what's your PC like? i7 2600k @5.0GHZ?
Click to expand...
If i'm not quoted directly by name I usually don't find these things because I rely too much on the user highlighter extension lol. The Dolphin thread is something i'll check maybe once every few days, so sorry about that. Most of the stuff I did choose at least helping with the timing that I monitored via FRAPS, but yeah, everyone's configs are different, yadda yadda. I'm still more than likely going to make one for the actual retail release of Skyward Sword, just need to get around finals week and such.

As for my current rig (i'll just give you the stock settings of everything i'm using and not what I OC to):
Phenom X4 II 970
Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 460 1GB
7 GB 1066 DDR2 RAM
Gigabyte GA-MA785G-UD3H (rev. 1.0)
OCZ Agility 3 60GB SSD
Win7 64bit
 
jediyoshi

jediyoshi

Member
New album up, Auto Modellista

http://dolphinsnacks.com/screenshots/automodellista/

001.jpg


002.jpg


010.jpg
 
T

Thrakier

Member
Thoraxes said:
If i'm not quoted directly by name I usually don't find these things because I rely too much on the user highlighter extension lol. The Dolphin thread is something i'll check maybe once every few days, so sorry about that. Most of the stuff I did choose at least helping with the timing that I monitored via FRAPS, but yeah, everyone's configs are different, yadda yadda. I'm still more than likely going to make one for the actual retail release of Skyward Sword, just need to get around finals week and such.

As for my current rig (i'll just give you the stock settings of everything i'm using and not what I OC to):
Phenom X4 II 970
Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 460 1GB
7 GB 1066 DDR2 RAM
Gigabyte GA-MA785G-UD3H (rev. 1.0)
OCZ Agility 3 60GB SSD
Win7 64bit
Click to expand...

Is a Phenom faster than a i52500k @4.3ghz? Because if it isn't much faster I don't know how you are running SS @4xres and x8FSAA. Because with those settings I get around 20FPS.
 
R

Red

Member
Thrakier said:
Is a Phenom faster than a i52500k @4.3ghz? Because if it isn't much faster I don't know how you are running SS @4xres and x8FSAA. Because with those settings I get around 20FPS.
Click to expand...

I am getting full speed on a 4GHz i7 920, same settings as he's using except for corrections involving EFB copies. I never once dropped to 20fps. Lowest it got was 24, during a couple timeshift stone segments, and even then it was usually 26+.

The only times it ever dropped were at night and during sequences with timeshift stones. Outside of that, I literally held 100% speed, 30fps consistently.

Hazaro said:
A Phenom is much much slower.
All graphics options like AA, SSAA, etc are all on the GPU (tmk) and usually is not a big deal if you have a current one above $150.

Auto Modellista also looks like Drift City.
Click to expand...
This too, I'm not sure how I neglected that.
 
H

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Thrakier said:
Is a Phenom faster than a i52500k @4.3ghz? Because if it isn't much faster I don't know how you are running SS @4xres and x8FSAA. Because with those settings I get around 20FPS.
Click to expand...
A Phenom is much much slower.
All graphics options like AA, SSAA, etc are all on the GPU (tmk) and usually is not a big deal if you have a current one above $150.

Auto Modellista also looks like Drift City.
 
T

Thrakier

Member
Crunched said:
I am getting full speed on a 4GHz i7 920, same settings as he's using except for corrections involving EFB copies. I never once dropped to 20fps. Lowest it got was 24, during a couple timeshift stone segments, and even then it was usually 26+.

The only times it ever dropped were at night and during sequences with timeshift stones. Outside of that, I literally held 100% speed, 30fps consistently.


This too, I'm not sure how I neglected that.
Click to expand...

You are using 8xFSAA? The fuck...with 4xres and 8xFSAA I never even get to 30FPS at all. What's going on here?

ALso:
I'm on 7719M. System is a i52500k @4.3 GHZ and a GTX560ti oc. I'm running the game fine @30FPS 4xres no FSAA but sometimes I get some sort of microstutter. The FPS are still at 30FPS but for a brief moment the scrolling isn't smooth but it's stuttering. It's not enough to be actually bad but it would be nicer without it. Any ideas?

Also, is there a newer and better build for Zelda now? Thanks a lot!
 
D

dinosaur_hunter2

Member
Guys, do you have the recommended settings for playing Skyward Sword? Only problem I noticed was with the sound in some areas. Sometimes two sound tracks got mixed together, really weird.
 
M

Mistle

Member
Skyward Sword... can't get it to run at 30fps constantly D:

I've tried the popular settings with the old revision. Hangs around 20-25. Goes up to 30 rarely. So then I tried the latest revision. Does run 30, but constantly drops to around 20-25. And I mean, every second or so. But it does run a bit better, though still rather unplayable.

My comp:

Intel Q9550 2.8 (can OC to 3.2)
Radeon HD5770
8GB DDR2 Ram

Are my specs just not quite good enough to get SS running well or could I probably tweak SS's setting to get it going better?

EDIT: Oops, resolution was much higher on the older revision :S lol. Still, problems persist.

EDIT 2: Ok, I've got it running around 25-30fps with x2 internal resolution (was on x4 before). Still, any drop below 30 is surprisingly noticeable, even at 27 or 28.

EDIT 3: Ack. I was doing all my tests in sealed grounds. If I go anywhere like Faron Woods, or Skyloft for example, it's back down to 20-25. My computer must be too weak?
 
T

Thoraxes

Member
Thrakier said:
Is a Phenom faster than a i52500k @4.3ghz? Because if it isn't much faster I don't know how you are running SS @4xres and x8FSAA. Because with those settings I get around 20FPS.
Click to expand...

Everyone else seemed to answer correctly. Yes the Phenom II is weaker, but with all the OCing and system tweaks I have in place, I have it optimized for performance so everything runs smoothly.

I told you what I have at stock speeds though. When I OC my CPU i go to about 4.5 ghz, and the GPU i'm still tweaking here and there because of my PSU. Also playing off an SSD helps with some of the cache streaming both when loading for the first time and when clearing.

Mistle said:
EDIT 3: Ack. I was doing all my tests in sealed grounds. If I go anywhere like Faron Woods, or Skyloft for example, it's back down to 20-25. My computer must be too weak?
Click to expand...
Dolphin is heavily CPU dependent. It's not that what you have is bad, just the clock speeds are slower that what you would need for "optimal" performance at that fidelity.
 
T

Thrakier

Member
Still, my CPU is oced to 4.3GHZ and at 4xres and 8xFSAA I'm around 22FPS. I wonder how you guys pull that off. My GPU is faster than yours as well. Weird.
 
M

Mistle

Member
Thoraxes said:
Dolphin is heavily CPU dependent. It's not that what you have is bad, just the clock speeds are slower that what you would need for "optimal" performance at that fidelity.
Click to expand...
Yeah, thought so. Ah well. I would upgrade my CPU but I'd have to change my motherboard also and that's an investment I'm not ready to make atm. Ah well, something to look forward to in the future.
 
T

Thoraxes

Member
Thrakier said:
Still, my CPU is oced to 4.3GHZ and at 4xres and 8xFSAA I'm around 22FPS. I wonder how you guys pull that off. My GPU is faster than yours as well. Weird.
Click to expand...

Did you try forcing it to run with a different SSE Instruction set? They have optimized builds for those CPUs that support the other kinds too.

Also try setting the emulator/game to only run on cores 1-3 (and not core 0), and not zero to see how well the hyper-threading handles it. Since you'd still have 6 logical processors, you should be fine and since almost everything uses core 1 on a fundamental basis, offsetting to the other ones may provide gain.
 
S

Schlomo

Member
How do you get Gecko codes to work in Dolphin? I wanted to try the "no treasure/insect messages" code for Zelda. I right-clicked on the game title, chose Properties -> Gecko Codes, downloaded the available ones and placed a check mark next to the code. "Enable cheats" is checked in the main config menu.

But it's not working at all. I also tried other cheats, nothing works. Am I missing a step?
 
T

Thrakier

Member
Thoraxes said:
Did you try forcing it to run with a different SSE Instruction set? They have optimized builds for those CPUs that support the other kinds too.

Also try setting the emulator/game to only run on cores 1-3 (and not core 0), and not zero to see how well the hyper-threading handles it. Since you'd still have 6 logical processors, you should be fine and since almost everything uses core 1 on a fundamental basis, offsetting to the other ones may provide gain.
Click to expand...

I thought the i52500k has no hyperthreading? TBH I'm surprised that a system like yours can run ANY Wii Game @4xres and 8FSAA, yet alone SS which isn't exactly the lightest game out there.

How well are you running SMG2? I'm running with 60FPS 90% of the time @3res and no FSAA.
 
jediyoshi

jediyoshi

Member
fernoca said:
Nice pics, jediyoshi.
I was actually thinking about Auto Modellista the other day. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks! The car models scale up pretty well, there's a suprising amount of detail on em.

Schlomo said:
How do you get Gecko codes to work in Dolphin? I wanted to try the "no treasure/insect messages" code for Zelda. I right-clicked on the game title, chose Properties -> Gecko Codes, downloaded the available ones and placed a check mark next to the code. "Enable cheats" is checked in the main config menu.
Click to expand...

Everything sounds right. Sure you're enabling all the cheats you want before starting up the game? I don't believe they activate while it's already running.
 
T

Thrakier

Member
I tried it with 3xres and 8xFSAA and even then I get only around 26FPS. Thoraxes, are you sure your FSAA is working properly? Because you said that your game isn't glitching, but it's supposed to be, it's even in the Wiki. We are using the same build after all.

Do you own SMG2? First world, first star, right after Mario landed on the first island, just stand still there - how many fps @3rxres?
 
S

Schlomo

Member
jediyoshi said:
Everything sounds right. Sure you're enabling all the cheats you want before starting up the game? I don't believe they activate while it's already running.
Click to expand...

Sure, I did that before I started the game. I also double checked that it downloaded the correct codes for the PAL version.
 
T

Thrakier

Member
I tried a different build now and it's exactly the same. With 4xres, 8xFSAA and 16xAF I get around 20 to 25 FPS, even in the main menu I only get around 22. I don't know how you guys with much weaker systems can run the game with those ultra demanding settings. EDIT: Seems like disabling EFB access makes a huge difference. Could you 8xFSAA guys try how the gam is running for you without that setting. Still I don't know how you managed to get no glitches with FSAA. Must be some setting, I don't know.
 
R

Red

Member
Thrakier said:
I tried a different build now and it's exactly the same. With 4xres, 8xFSAA and 16xAF I get around 20 to 25 FPS, even in the main menu I only get around 22. I don't know how you guys with much weaker systems can run the game with those ultra demanding settings. EDIT: Seems like disabling EFB access makes a huge difference. Could you 8xFSAA guys try how the gam is running for you without that setting. Still I don't know how you managed to get no glitches with FSAA. Must be some setting, I don't know.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about the option "Skip EFB access from CPU"? I leave it unchecked so that projectiles are properly aligned, and take a slight (1-2 fps) hit in areas where I lose performance anyway, so the difference is minimal.

My config is slightly altered from Thoraxes' original, but mostly it's the same:

rev 7719m

General:
D3D11 backend
1920x1080
Aspect ratio: auto
v-sync off (running through D3DOverrider, no need to enable through Dolphin)
Use fullscreen checked
Hide mouse cursor on
All other settings unchecked

Enhancements:
Internal Resolution 4x Native
Anti-Aliasing 8 samples
AF 16x
per pixel lighting checked*
force texture filtering checked

*per pixel lighting may cause a glitch in which light shafts show texture seams, I posted examples earlier in this thread but neglected to check if disabling this fixed the issue

Hacks:
Skip EFB access from CPU unchecked
Ignore format changes checked
EFB copies on virtual
EFB disabled
Disable per-pixel depth checked
OpenMP texture decoder checked
all other options unchecked

Everything else is turned off. In the general config menu, I of course have dual core and idle skipping enabled and am running on the JIT Recompiler. Whether or not I lock thread to cores doesn't seem to make a difference.
 
T

Thrakier

Member
What's your system? Enabling Skip EFB makes the difference for me between 22FPS and stable 30 with 4xres and 8xFSAA. however FSAA is glitching just like it's described in the Zelda Wiki.
 
R

Red

Member
Thrakier said:
What's your system? Enabling Skip EFB makes the difference for me between 22FPS and stable 30 with 4xres and 8xFSAA. however FSAA is glitching just like it's described in the Zelda Wiki.
Click to expand...

My cpu is an i7 920 @ 4GHz and my gpu is a 5870. 11.9 drivers.
 
R

Red

Member
Thrakier said:
Tell me which black magic are you guys using? Hows smg2 running for you?
Click to expand...

I don't have SMG2 on PC, but SMG1 runs really well in HLE, and fairly poorly with LLE. 60fps typical without sound, but down to 40 with it. I can still hold 60 occasionally with LLE enabled, but it's rare for performance to be stable.
 
T

Thoraxes

Member
Thrakier said:
I thought the i52500k has no hyperthreading? TBH I'm surprised that a system like yours can run ANY Wii Game @4xres and 8FSAA, yet alone SS which isn't exactly the lightest game out there.

How well are you running SMG2? I'm running with 60FPS 90% of the time @3res and no FSAA.
Click to expand...

I'll take out my copy later and find out.
 
T

Thrakier

Member
Crunched said:
I don't have SMG2 on PC, but SMG1 runs really well in HLE, and fairly poorly with LLE. 60fps typical without sound, but down to 40 with it. I can still hold 60 occasionally with LLE enabled, but it's rare for performance to be stable.
Click to expand...

That's weird, isn't it? I'm running SMG2 with almost stable 60FPS @3xRes AND LLE. There are few drops here and there but overall it's perfectly playable. On the same revision as Zelda, DX9. So...I think that's a pretty weird situation here. ;D Makes no sense at all. Are you guys sure that the FSAA is really working for you? Because both of you say that you don't notice the glitches but they are pretty noticable, the DOF is totally screwed when FSAA is applied.
 
D

dinosaur_hunter2

Member
Crunched said:
Are you talking about the option "Skip EFB access from CPU"? I leave it unchecked so that projectiles are properly aligned, and take a slight (1-2 fps) hit in areas where I lose performance anyway, so the difference is minimal.

My config is slightly altered from Thoraxes' original, but mostly it's the same:

rev 7719m

General:
D3D11 backend
1920x1080
Aspect ratio: auto
v-sync off (running through D3DOverrider, no need to enable through Dolphin)
Use fullscreen checked
Hide mouse cursor on
All other settings unchecked

Enhancements:
Internal Resolution 4x Native
Anti-Aliasing 8 samples
AF 16x
per pixel lighting checked*
force texture filtering checked

*per pixel lighting may cause a glitch in which light shafts show texture seams, I posted examples earlier in this thread but neglected to check if disabling this fixed the issue

Hacks:
Skip EFB access from CPU unchecked
Ignore format changes checked
EFB copies on virtual
EFB disabled
Disable per-pixel depth checked
OpenMP texture decoder checked
all other options unchecked

Everything else is turned off. In the general config menu, I of course have dual core and idle skipping enabled and am running on the JIT Recompiler. Whether or not I lock thread to cores doesn't seem to make a difference.
Click to expand...
Is D3DOverrider really needed when is possible to enable Triple Buffering directly on Nvidia's control panel? Pardon me if I'm saying something wrong, please.
 
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