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Dolphin - Emulating Wii and Gamecube Games

Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
You're pretty close, actually. Dolphin uses a dynamic recompiler. Strongly simplified that means it translates instructions for the GC/Wii processors to x68 instructions in real-time. Once it has translated a certain set of instructions (which of course takes a little time) it caches them. Of course it can only translate what it has already encountered. That's why you will often experience slight stutters when you do certain things (like opening a menu, firing a weapon, etc.) for the first time.

However, the fast cache space in the processor is very limited, so when a game uses more sets of instructions that fit in there, you will experience slight stutters again as the recompiler struggles to balance juggling all those cached instructions while trying to redo as few recompilations as possible.

Edit: It's also possible to cache the instructions in the main RAM instead of recompiling every time, but accessing main RAM is much much slower than the cache on the processor itself so it will still lead to stutters.


Ah I see, thanks a lot for the explanation :)!
 

Blablurn

Member
You have to manually select it.

i tried, mate :(

this is the menu where i change the settings from dolphin to the geforce gtx 660m

1r4sd3.png

this is what happens when i try to start an iso

28ys0j.png

in the menu of dolphin i just can select the integrated one :(

4mbspy.png

the integrated works when i dont change the graphics settings. but i would like to push it a little bit more.
 
To those of you using Wii remotes, I have an issue you may be able to help me with: I got my bluetooth USB adapters in this week, and I've managed to get my Wii remote connected and working fine, but every time I have to connect them (every time I start up a Wii game in Dolphin, essentially), it proves to be a real pain in the ass.

Every single time, Windows has to "install" the device, which seemingly fails sometimes and works other times, which leads to me having to manually connect it through the install wizards, and then going into Dolphin and syncing with that. It only takes me a minute or two, so it's not that bad, but ideally, I'd like for it to be as simple as pressing 1+2 or Sync, it connects, and I'm good to go. Any tips?
 

Kelegacy

XBOX - RECORD ME LOVING DOWN MY WOMAN GOOD
Played Donkey Kong Country Returns most of the weekend and it is awesome. Looks beautiful on Dolphin too. Plays smooth and no issues yet...other than an occasional audio "tearing" sound that requires me to beat the level I am on to remove. I usually will turn the sound off when it gets really bad. But I can handle it since the game is one of the best platformers I have ever played, easily. Reminds me of the magic Mario World had the first time I played it.
 

Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
So here's a weird question. What are the prospects of Wii U being as "easily" emulated like GCN and the Wii? I mean from the looks of it we aren't even close to emulating what the ps3 or 360 do so what are the odds of wii u joining them in the sense that it might be many many years before we can properly emulate them?
 

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
So here's a weird question. What are the prospects of Wii U being as "easily" emulated like GCN and the Wii? I mean from the looks of it we aren't even close to emulating what the ps3 or 360 do so what are the odds of wii u joining them in the sense that it might be many many years before we can properly emulate them?

Yeah, if ever.
 
Played Donkey Kong Country Returns most of the weekend and it is awesome. Looks beautiful on Dolphin too. Plays smooth and no issues yet...other than an occasional audio "tearing" sound that requires me to beat the level I am on to remove. I usually will turn the sound off when it gets really bad. But I can handle it since the game is one of the best platformers I have ever played, easily. Reminds me of the magic Mario World had the first time I played it.

If you hit the Home button and then go back to the game it will reset the sound/remove the audio glitching too, temporarily of course.
 
You're pretty close, actually. Dolphin uses a dynamic recompiler. Strongly simplified that means it translates instructions for the GC/Wii processors to x68 instructions in real-time. Once it has translated a certain set of instructions (which of course takes a little time) it caches them. Of course it can only translate what it has already encountered. That's why you will often experience slight stutters when you do certain things (like opening a menu, firing a weapon, etc.) for the first time.

However, the fast cache space in the processor is very limited, so when a game uses more sets of instructions that fit in there, you will experience slight stutters again as the recompiler struggles to balance juggling all those cached instructions while trying to redo as few recompilations as possible.

Edit: It's also possible to cache the instructions in the main RAM instead of recompiling every time, but accessing main RAM is much much slower than the cache on the processor itself so it will still lead to stutters.

Are there ways to free up more of the CPU cache space for Dolphin to use? Like closing all background apps, antivirus, unneeded Windows services, etc. Would that help theoretically?
 

lexi

Banned
Are there ways to free up more of the CPU cache space for Dolphin to use? Like closing all background apps, antivirus, unneeded Windows services, etc. Would that help theoretically?

It would not net noticeable gains. The only thing that does is raw power + on die cache.

I have a Sandy Bridge-E i7 3960x which has an absolutely monster cache on die -- Every Gamecube and Wii game I've played (only early Wii games, nothing beyond SMG) has run absolutely flawlessly.
 

Diablos

Member
I need to build a new desktop, hopefully by the end of the year if not early next year.

To simplify: What CPU and GPU combo can I buy that will emulate Wii games properly (such as Xenoblade)? I'm thinking i5? Which model? And what's a cheap but respectable GPU?

Is there an AMD CPU that's just as good for Dolphin, or no? I get the impression there is not, they've been lagging behind for eons now, but if there is something let me know.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
I need to build a new desktop, hopefully by the end of the year if not early next year.

To simplify: What CPU and GPU combo can I buy that will emulate Wii games properly (such as Xenoblade)? I'm thinking i5? Which model? And what's a cheap but respectable GPU?

Is there an AMD CPU that's just as good for Dolphin, or no? I get the impression there is not, they've been lagging behind for eons now, but if there is something let me know.

Actually I was just talking about that in the need a PC thread. For someone who specifically wants a PC good for Dolphin/PCSX2, the new AMD CPUs might be the best bet. The #1 thing for Dolphin is clock speed, even if the CPU is slower for typical tasks (and instruction set support, but everything supports SSE4.2 now).

You can get an A10-5800k CPU which is 3.8GHz stock/4.2GHz turbo (when in 2C/1M mode, which Dolphin will probably use), and that will run the majority of games without an overclock. Getting it a bit higher wouldn't hurt either, and it looks like it OCs pretty well too, 4.5GHz+ should run practically anything that's not compatible at as solid of a framerate as possible (sometimes you will still get drops just because of the emulation not being totally right). You also shouldn't need a separate GPU, but you'll be able to add SSAA (or just more SSAA) with a discrete GPU.

But it also depends on what your other priorities are. If Dolphin is the only really intensive thing you want to run, that could be a good bet. If you do other CPU heavy stuff then it might be worth it to pay more for an Intel. Best bet is to check out the I need a new PC thread if you haven't already and fill out the form in the OP.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
I need to build a new desktop, hopefully by the end of the year if not early next year.

To simplify: What CPU and GPU combo can I buy that will emulate Wii games properly (such as Xenoblade)? I'm thinking i5? Which model? And what's a cheap but respectable GPU?

Is there an AMD CPU that's just as good for Dolphin, or no? I get the impression there is not, they've been lagging behind for eons now, but if there is something let me know.
Need price range and your expectations. PC Thread a good place to start :)
Actually I was just talking about that in the need a PC thread. For someone who specifically wants a PC good for Dolphin/PCSX2, the new AMD CPUs might be the best bet. The #1 thing for Dolphin is clock speed, even if the CPU is slower for typical tasks (and instruction set support, but everything supports SSE4.2 now).

You can get an A10-5800k CPU which is 3.8GHz stock/4.2GHz turbo (when in 2C/1M mode, which Dolphin will probably use), and that will run the majority of games without an overclock. Getting it a bit higher wouldn't hurt either, and it looks like it OCs pretty well too, 4.5GHz+ should run practically anything that's not compatible at as solid of a framerate as possible (sometimes you will still get drops just because of the emulation not being totally right). You also shouldn't need a separate GPU, but you'll be able to add SSAA (or just more SSAA) with a discrete GPU.

But it also depends on what your other priorities are. If Dolphin is the only really intensive thing you want to run, that could be a good bet. If you do other CPU heavy stuff then it might be worth it to pay more for an Intel. Best bet is to check out the I need a new PC thread if you haven't already and fill out the form in the OP.
I saw that post. The problem is AMD is behind 30% in single threaded speed. That matters in Dolphin as it primary uses 2 cores (Like you said). As a single solution it could work fairly decently for a good majority of titles, but I'm just left wanting so much more and it will hamper gaming experiences across the board with a separate GPU. Even more noticeable with an Intel chip.

That's not even getting into the fact the A10/A8 is near OC capped (4400 would be high end realistic imo) and dumps a lot of heat if you OC.

As a dedicated box setup at a low cost? Absolutely. The A10 runs at 4Ghz on all 4 cores pretty much and that's a large jump over the 3.- Ghz older processors. Usually Intel has always been geared for Dolphin users (Early speed and SSE advantages along with OC potential), so I don't have a lot of Ghz numbers for AMD on games. I do recall that Intel 3.3Ghz and up seems to do well, and 4Ghz+ on Intel (so... AMD 5.2Ghz+) is needed for fullspeed on some.

Basically you are right, but if you toss in any other gaming considerations and longevity and upgradability of the system it just makes sense to go Intel. Lack of competition for gaming performance makes me sad.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
It's something I'd like to experiment with, if I had the money to throw at it for the sake of throwing it.

Alternatively, I'd probably still go with a 2500k over a 3570k if emulation is important just because it OCs better.
 

Jockel

Member
Quick question: is it worth it to bother with AMD processors at all? I'm on an AM3 mainboard so I don't really want to add the cost of another mainboard just for upgrading the CPU.
Edit: Currently sporting an AMD Athlon II X4 640 @3.0ghz, GTX 460 and 4gb of DDR3-1333 (i think) RAM
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
Quick question: is it worth it to bother with AMD processors at all? I'm on an AM3 mainboard so I don't really want to add the cost of another mainboard just for upgrading the CPU.
Edit: Currently sporting an AMD Athlon II X4 640 @3.0ghz, GTX 460 and 4gb of DDR3-1333 (i think) RAM
You can clock your x4 to see what it can do, but no. Not worth it.
It's something I'd like to experiment with, if I had the money to throw at it for the sake of throwing it.

Alternatively, I'd probably still go with a 2500k over a 3570k if emulation is important just because it OCs better.
I was on board the 2500K train. Still am if people are comfortable buying used chips! I ended up buying a 2600K for the price of a 3570K.

Comparatively they do about the same on a good air cooler. 4.6Ghz SB is about 4.4GHz IB and the average clocks fall around the same performance level. The price premium of the 3570K new is mostly gone and it uses quite a bit less power. Even if you only get 4.2 or 4.3 out of your IB chip it's still very solid.
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Is it possible to do 3D stereoscopy with Dolphin and a 3D monitor?
 

Grief.exe

Member
All of them play great for the most part. I've played SS almost through to completion, but just like on Wii it requires a Motion + controller. The others from what I remember play perfectly fine as well but TP has some major slowdown in Hyrule Field even on top of the line hardware.

There are versions of Dolphin that allow you to use an xbox or contorller of your choice instead of the motion + controller.

Any way to fix the sound in RE4 Wii Edition? The game runs perfectly but the sound gets super buggy after 10 minutes. I'm also have sound problems in No More Heroes 2, which runs just fine like RE4 does, but all the cutscenes are very out of sync with the audio. I did find a 'speedhack' that was supposed to fix it on the Dolphin forum but that didn't fix it.

If you have the computer to run RE4 on dolphin, you might as well just run the PC version with the HD texture patch.

ENB injector, and community patches are available as well.

Kind of sums everything up: http://s4.zetaboards.com/Whip_Ass_Ga...pic/7847130/1/

http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Resident_Evil_4

Here are some before and after shots I found of standard to HD texture pack. Pretty significant difference.

 
when the textures are high resolution versions of stock IM OK
when they aren't and they change the look/atmosphere of the game because of it IM NOT OK
 
It's only when you see Dolphin screenshots you realize how much better-looking Brawl really is.

Oh man, I don't know. I popped in Melee the other day just on the Wii and it blew me away at how different it looks compared to Brawl. Especially the Fire Emblem characters.
 

Grief.exe

Member
when the textures are high resolution versions of stock IM OK
when they aren't and they change the look/atmosphere of the game because of it IM NOT OK

I looked through them again and I don't see any textures there that take away the look or atmosphere.
Most of them look almost exactly like the stock textures...except not horrible. And from reading the posts I know that some of them are taken from the gamecube and wii versions, then increasing their size and cleaning them up some.

This one in particular, the box and typewriter texture is so horrible I really don't think they can do anything with it.

 
I looked through them again and I don't see any textures there that take away the look or atmosphere.
Most of them look almost exactly like the stock textures...except not horrible. And from reading the posts I know that some of them are taken from the gamecube and wii versions, then increasing their size and cleaning them up some.

This one in particular, the box and typewriter texture is so horrible I really don't think they can do anything with it.

the barrels actually look worse in the new texture version, but otherwise stuff looks a bit better
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Yes, I think only the DX11 plugin allows it though.
F-Zero GX looks great

Do you know how to enable it? I can't find any options.
 

tsab

Member
Do you know how to enable it? I can't find any options.

I think it only does (or did when I was using it) Nvidia 3D Vision. It has a check mark that enables nvidia 3d in Graphics plugin setting if I remember correctly.


edit: after googling I found that it was in DX9. Sorry for the confusion
 

clemenx

Banned
Holy fuckkk I can't believe I didn't try dolphin earlier ;-; silly me. It's like having a brand new console, lol

I bought a Bluetooth dongle today to use with my phone and figured I'd try and use the wiimote. I already have most of my collection on a HDD and I use usb loader on my Wii, that's why I never gave this a try.

1080p Mario Galaxies were a revelation. Can't wait to replay them (and other games for sure). I won't even transfer any saves lol.
 
Holy fuckkk I can't believe I didn't try dolphin earlier ;-; silly me. It's like having a brand new console, lol

I bought a Bluetooth dongle today to use with my phone and figured I'd try and use the wiimote. I already have most of my collection on a HDD and I use usb loader on my Wii, that's why I never gave this a try.

1080p Mario Galaxies were a revelation. Can't wait to replay them (and other games for sure). I won't even transfer any saves lol.

I bought the collector's edition of Skyward Sword just for the golden Wiimote plus, dumped the game on my wii, and haven't touched it on the console since. Played 100% via dolphin and can't imagine doing it any other way... only time I get any slowdown is a little bit in skyloft at night for some reason.
 

Seik

Banned
For anyone who's tried it, how does REmake and RE:0 handle in dolphin with widescreen?

Correct me if I'm wrong (Its been a while since I tried).

You should run REmake in 4:3 only, because all the animated effects in the prerendered backgrounds won't be a the right places if you force widescreen. For example: the light of a burning candle won't be on top of the candle, more like 2 centimeters off burning in the middle of nothing.

RE Zero (from RE archives) is 16:9, but everything seems stetchy to me so I play in 4:3 anyway, though I don't know about the GC version, I deleted my rips when I bought the Archives version.
 
Does anyone here play at 2560x1440? My friends just got me a new monitor for my birthday, not sure if I should rip some of my GameCube games and play them in high resolution. I have a 2500k at 4.8ghz and a Radeon HD7870
 

Ledsen

Member
Does anyone here play at 2560x1440? My friends just got me a new monitor for my birthday, not sure if I should rip some of my GameCube games and play them in high resolution. I have a 2500k at 4.8ghz and a Radeon HD7870

Your friends got you a MONITOR for your birthday? Holy shit you have some nice friends...
 
Your friends got you a MONITOR for your birthday? Holy shit you have some nice friends...

You're telling me haha. They're the best people I've met in my life.

So I just ran Wind Waker at 2560x1440, 16xAF. Holy. Mother. I nearly shed a tear. The colors looked fantastic too (IPS panel). Gotta stop playing and study for exams now :(
 

Tankshell

Member
What's the secret to getting SMG2 running smoothly on Dolphin? Have recently played both Xenoblade and Zelda:SS through without problems but damned if I can get galaxy 2 running nice.

Have a decent spec rig so have been trying with LLE audio.... I just get random audio glitches and stutters and the frame rate fluctuates between 50-60.
 

Eyothrie

Member
Ugh! I wish I could get my Wiimote connected to my PC. I have a Bluetooth adapter built into my PC, but I can't get it to work. Fail me.
 
How many of the bigger Nintendo games would be playable with a Keyboard and Mouse? I just don't have any more free USB ports on my PC since my front panel ports on my case haven't worked since my last PC fried.

By which games I'm asking about the Marios, Metroids, Resident Evil, Xenoblade games. Would love to see what they look like running on Dolphin, hooking up the Wiimote to this PC is not an option.
 

tlstls

Banned
Hey guys, my friend is making a HD Texture Packs for Zelda Twilight Princess, it will add High definition textures of 1k res to the game and direct illumination to the textures, his progress is very advanced, it's almost 70% of the textures, his work is complete on all of Hyrule Field and some of the temple, actually, his work is in progress on the NPC and three temples, which are Temple of Time, Forest Temple, Snowpeak Ruins, these are under modification still.

In his words: "The art is a little different, and it's for my friends and friends friends to play, and enjoy, some people maybe complain on the bloom effect, but it's nothing I can do about it, since it's something of the game and I can't turn it off, you can go and look in the original game and see it makes heavy use of it."

These are two videos of his work in progress, please enjoy and see it in HD (720p)!

This one is a comparative video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoIFcn6V-W4?hd=1

And this is for you to see the works in progress:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbGGEMXtGcA?hd=1

Feedback is well appreciated!
 

rjc571

Banned
Hey guys, my friend is making a HD Texture Packs for Zelda Twilight Princess, it will add High definition textures of 1k res to the game and direct illumination to the textures, his progress is very advanced, it's almost 70% of the textures, his work is complete on all of Hyrule Field and some of the temple, actually, his work is in progress on the NPC and three temples, which are Temple of Time, Forest Temple, Snowpeak Ruins, these are under modification still.

In his words: "The art is a little different, and it's for my friends and friends friends to play, and enjoy, some people maybe complain on the bloom effect, but it's nothing I can do about it, since it's something of the game and I can't turn it off, you can go and look in the original game and see it makes heavy use of it."

These are two videos of his work in progress, please enjoy and see it in HD (720p)!

This one is a comparative video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoIFcn6V-W4?hd=1

And this is for you to see the works in progress:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbGGEMXtGcA?hd=1

Feedback is well appreciated!
logo_m.png

People are going to claim that it "ruins the original art" or some other BS, but I don't care. That looks friggin' great!
 
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