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Dolphin - Emulating Wii and Gamecube Games
- Thread starter Stallion Free
- Start date
Haunted
Member
FFFFUUUUUUUUUU
Alright guys, so I really want to play through the galaxy series, but don't have a wii. If I buy the games will I be able to run them through dolphin on my PC? I have a decently beefy rig, will I be able to play Galaxy at max speed at at least 720p? Lastly, is a wii mote required to play Galaxy or can I remap any important buttons to my 360 controller? Here are my specs:
i5 2500K @ 4.0 GHZ
8gb RAM
AMD 6950 1GB
Thanks!
i5 2500K @ 4.0 GHZ
8gb RAM
AMD 6950 1GB
Thanks!
In the case of skyward sword, you want a sensor bar on at *ALL TIMES*. Or stuff is going to slowly go out-of-whack. The gyros are constantly being recalibrated by the sensor bar.
Buy a wireless one. They're like $10-15.
You'll be able to run them at 3x res, just don expect a 100% perfect emulation. More like 90%. But yeah, playble and looks great.
Thanks! Is there a workaround if I don't have a wii mote for SMG 1/2?
nincompoop
Banned
You'll need a Wii to dump your games if you want to play them on Dolphin legally. You should also note that you can increase the resolution waaayyyy beyond 720p without impacting the performance at all. SMG probably won't run at full speed constantly for you (at least not with LLE audio, which you need for the music to work), but lowering the resolution isn't going to stop the framerate from dropping.
Good to know, I'll have to borrow a friend's Wii. How often should I expect speed drops?
nincompoop
Banned
They happen pretty often for me, usually when there's lots of star bits on screen or crazy explosions/particle effects going on in the background.
zephervack
Member
Ready to jump back into this, are there any setup guides for Zelda Skyward Sword, I don't see any in the OP. Also, does Dolphin support AMD crossfire setups? Thanks
Okay. I think I might buy Monster Hunter Tri instead, it seems like I can get away without having to buy a wii mote and sensor bar. Can anyone confirm this? Also, is it a playable game on Dolphin in terms of performance/bugs?
jediyoshi
Member
It's fine if you're only going to be playing with a gamepad since there's classic controller support.
Not entirely sure how confortable it would be playing the game in that manner, but all the keys and motions are mapable to keyboard/mouse/gamepad via Dolphin. Only issue would be the pointer if you use a gamepad, with that said most of the game doesn't require the pointer.
Edit: Just remember there are a few based motion, those would be an issue as well.
Your friend will need to have his Wii homebrewed for you to be able to dump the games.
Not sure if I can ask about this here, but I was just getting interested in Dolphin and found that I apparently can't dump any of my Wii or Gamecube games through any of the optical drives in my PC. Apparently there's actually a way to do it through the Wii itself? Does this work for GC games too? Kind of want to play through the Fire Emblems again, but don't want to be tied to a TV.
whatsinaname
Member
Finally got everything up and running. A colleague was selling a Bluetooth adapter for $5 which was on the dolphin compatibility list and bought a wireless sensor bar off ebay. $10 investment. (Already had a Wii/controllers and Galaxy.)
Click for full res image.
Running at 3x resolution, 4x SSAA and 1x AF. Monitor resolution is at 2560x1600 but 4x scaling produces slowdown. Will try to bump up AA and AF and see if I can eke out a bit more.
Click for full res image.
Running at 3x resolution, 4x SSAA and 1x AF. Monitor resolution is at 2560x1600 but 4x scaling produces slowdown. Will try to bump up AA and AF and see if I can eke out a bit more.
jediyoshi
Member
May as well always max out AF, there's little to no performance hit from it.
whatsinaname
Member
Will do. Thanks.
What SSAA should I be setting it at? I understand it is only dependent on GPU? I run a 6950 2GB.
Yes, you need to homebrew your Wii first though, for that check the neogaf homebrew tutorial and/or the thread.
You can use the USB loader to rip/play Wii games directly through the Wii, though if you use this you'll have to convert the files from wbfs to iso using Wii Backup Manager or similar. I hear you can rip directly to iso using the USB loader but I never found that option.
For Gamecube games you'll have to use CleanRip, I believe you can also rip Wii games using this and the rips are done directly as iso files, though this software doesn't allow you to run games directly from HDD with the Wii, it's simply a ripping tool.
Finally got everything up and running. A colleague was selling a Bluetooth adapter for $5 which was on the dolphin compatibility list and bought a wireless sensor bar off ebay. $10 investment. (Already had a Wii/controllers and Galaxy.)
Click for full res image.
Running at 3x resolution, 4x SSAA and 1x AF. Monitor resolution is at 2560x1600 but 4x scaling produces slowdown. Will try to bump up AA and AF and see if I can eke out a bit more.
What's your system? I wonder what you need to run SMG2 3xres and 4xSSAA fullspeed...I can only do 3xres for sure. SSAA produces slowdown.
Chuckpebble
Member
Word of warning, I don't know from experience, but I just saw this mentioned in the MH Community thread. You CAN NOT play online with Tri through Dolphin. Still a huge and satisfying game in single player, but man are you ever missing out on something if you don't group hunt ever.
Ok, after reading the page, I have a few odd questions. I know that I'd probably have to actively try to screw this up, but should I probably just go out and get a separate, cheap SD card with which to do all this? It turns out lately that my young nephews use the system more than I do when they visit, and they have some saved data in games like Mario Kart and such that I'd hate to accidentally screw up in the process. Can I use the same SD card onto which to dump games or is it a better idea to use one of my pile of thumb drives? Actually now that I think about it, the saves should probably be on the system memory itself anyway, but if I CAN use the SD card to dump games, I'd probably need larger than a 2GB anyway.
whatsinaname
Member
Intel i5 2500k (stock speeds)
Asus P8Z68 V-Pro
Radeon 6950 2GB
16 GB 1600Mhz DDR3
Intel X25-M 80 GB SSD
I don't know how much the RAM or SSD help. It might just be the processor for resolution and GPU for AA/AF that is important.
1$ or so from Dealextreme and maybe 7-8$ for a wireless sensor bar from the same site. Sorry I can't seem to find them mine over the countless orders I have from this site
EDIT:
found them
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/super-mini-bluetooth-2-0-adapter-dongle-vista-compatible-11866 (I have both BT dongles but I use this for dolphin, also good for PSmotionJoy)
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ultra-mini-bluetooth-2-1-edr-usb-2-0-dongle-37665
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/wireless-sensor-bar-for-wii-4-aaa-26893
whatsinaname
Member
There are a couple on ebay, just search for Wii wireless sensor. One for ~$4 (including shipping) that uses AAA batteries. I bought the other one for ~$5.50 shipped as it uses AA batteries and I had a few lying around.
Alright, thanks guys. I was going to make a trip to Microcenter today and it seems like they have this in stock: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0333014
Not sure if Dolphin supports it but who gives a shit, it's $1.59 =P
Not sure if Dolphin supports it but who gives a shit, it's $1.59 =P
I've had some problems with stuff from dealxtreme. The wireless sensor bar makes my pointer all jumpy, and the bluetooth adapter seems to not work great (when walking on tightropes with Link on SS, I can't balance him). Might just be my config or something, but just a heads up.
Check near your sensor bar for interference like other infrared lightning, glare on monitor etc
(use a mobile camera to check, not 100% accurate)
So microcenter didn't actually have the bluetooth adapter in stock, drat. Will this one work?
http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-USB-Micro-Adapter-Dongle/dp/B001EBE1LI/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1326407408&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-USB-Micro-Adapter-Dongle/dp/B001EBE1LI/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1326407408&sr=1-3
Looks like the one I posted. Buy it.
Thanks!
Cuban Legend
Member
It looks EXACTLY like mine but with a different clip. It's not nintendo quality but will do the job. Probably you can mod this to take power from a usb plug if you want to
Cuban Legend
Member
are there any sensor bars that take USB power by default?
I have a i52500k @4.3GHZ and a 560TI @900mhz. 3xRes and 4xFSAA are impossible for me if I want to run full speed. Are you using LLE?
Thanks, looking good.
onken
Member
Was browsing the shops this afternoon when I saw a wireless sensor bar, the last thing I had to get to complete my setup. Went from a regular old Wii to installing HBC, ripping some games and getting Dolphin up and running. SMG kinda runs like shit on my laptop but looks great at least, and the Wiimote connected to my laptop no probs. Fun Sunday afternoon project 
Portugeezer
Member
Is there a way to play Metroid Prime with M/KB controls? Would love that.
whatsinaname
Member
I don't think I get full speed all the time. I checked today, and I see slowdowns to 45 fps during the transitions (flying from planet to planet/ flying through a galaxy etc). During the actual levels, I get rates of 50-60 fps, mostly hovering in the 55-60 fps region. I get similar performance at 2.5x as well, so I just left it at 3x.
I am not certain what LLE is. I left most settings at default.
I tried it once, but got terrible artifacts on the flashlight.
I didn't try again with different settings, though.
Noooooo~!!!!I cant get it to work!!!
I downloaded it, configured it, and all that,
and actually it does technically work... I was able to connect my wiimote and play an ISO file I had lying on my computer,
the issue is I cant get any discs to work!
when I choose "Boot From DVD Drive" the program downright freezes.
furthermore, it seems my computer cannot even read the discs to begin with!!
therefore, I cant even rip discs onto my computer into a playable format...
is this a common problem?? I'm googling but cant seem to find much info...
if so, would it be recommended to get a new DVD-R Drive?? and if so which one is a good one to get??
I downloaded it, configured it, and all that,
and actually it does technically work... I was able to connect my wiimote and play an ISO file I had lying on my computer,
the issue is I cant get any discs to work!
when I choose "Boot From DVD Drive" the program downright freezes.
furthermore, it seems my computer cannot even read the discs to begin with!!
therefore, I cant even rip discs onto my computer into a playable format...
is this a common problem?? I'm googling but cant seem to find much info...
if so, would it be recommended to get a new DVD-R Drive?? and if so which one is a good one to get??
Convince a friend to homebrew theirs and let you rip your disks? lol.