Dolphin Emulator (recent progress)

[tential]

I've been following the recent progress of this emulator over the past couple of months and want to know if any users can comment on it?

I don't have the latest gadgets necessary to really see the true experience for games I actually want to play (require the wiimote/nunchuk which I wasn't going through the whole hassle of setting that up until this new sensor bar that is out now that makes it painfully easy).
There have been so many speed improvements I'm wondering now if I should make the investment to try out Super Mario Galaxy now that I can use my new wii motes.

So any current users right now have any input?

 

[futurefields]

I was reading the patch notes and it sounds incredible at this point.


Buuuut then I discovered you need to download the actual games off of torrent sites and that part seems shady to me.

Not gonna do it.

 

[rifken2]

There is a process to backup your discs, but from what I recall the process isn't user friendly. I use it to play Super Mario Brothers Wii, but I do own the disc. I do have a Wii and two Wiimotes. I like using Dolphin because I can up convert the game to HD.

I have used it and I am slow to update to the latest version. The last version I have used still has slow downs during game play during NSMBW. It is odd... because updates between versions seem to be hit or miss, one update fixes some issues and other updates will slow the game down again. I am using an overclocked 2500k and an ATI 5750 (I think). It can chew thru hardware like a boss...

 

[Subyman]

So you can't use the disk drive to play games?

 

[Aikouka]

So you can't use the disk drive to play games?

If I remember correctly, only a few disc drives can actually read Wii discs.

 

[tential]

I was reading the patch notes and it sounds incredible at this point.


Buuuut then I discovered you need to download the actual games off of torrent sites and that part seems shady to me.

Not gonna do it.

You don't need to but as others said, you need special drives. It's 2014 though and you haven't used torrents (or the comments section of a torrent) yet?

But ya, the patch notes sound AMAZING and literally all of them are right when I stopped playing around with Dolphin Emulator. I had "playable" frame rates but I wanted buttery smooth rates. Seems like I can now get them especially after reading this months patch notes with the massive CPU performance increases.

Also they have better peripherals too now including a Sensorbar that is made to work with Dolphin and work well (low latency).

I'm going to purchase the sensorbar and Wireless gamecube Controller adapter tonight and do some playing around with it next weekend. Hopefully it works out.

Then I just gotta get it to work with the projector I'm buying for my bedroom....

Just hoping I can play Super Mario Galaxy while laying in bed with no hiccups with the wiimote/nunchuks like intended. First time I tried 5 months ago I got too many sound hiccups that took me out of the fun experience too much.

 

[tential]

There is a process to backup your discs, but from what I recall the process isn't user friendly. I use it to play Super Mario Brothers Wii, but I do own the disc. I do have a Wii and two Wiimotes. I like using Dolphin because I can up convert the game to HD.

I have used it and I am slow to update to the latest version. The last version I have used still has slow downs during game play during NSMBW. It is odd... because updates between versions seem to be hit or miss, one update fixes some issues and other updates will slow the game down again. I am using an overclocked 2500k and an ATI 5750 (I think). It can chew thru hardware like a boss...

It was frustrating to see my 4770k+HD7950 struggle in some games. Especially when I saw videos of other people playing it with lesser hardware which is why I stopped playing around with it (and I needed to go through the hassle of wiimote/nunchuk which has been vastly simplified now with a new sensorbar).

I think this time around though I'll actually ask for help on their forums lol.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I've been using it for some time. On the games it works well on, it is great. I've never used a sensor bar though, I've always used my overhead lamp. Not exactly ideal, but it does work.

However if you are expecting perfection, then I'd just forget it. Sound glitches is pretty common on all games.

 

[SlitheryDee]

When I last used it a couple of years ago it was already nearly flawless. Games looked better than on the wii generally, and the wiimote functionality was quite good. I actually modded my wii so I could run the software required to rip all my games and transfer them to my PC. There were some nagging audio issues that bothered me, and everything wasn't quite perfect, but overall Dolphin was the most stable and functional emulator I've used since the ZSNES days.

 

[tential]

When I last used it a couple of years ago it was already nearly flawless. Games looked better than on the wii generally, and the wiimote functionality was quite good. I actually modded my wii so I could run the software required to rip all my games and transfer them to my PC. There were some nagging audio issues that bothered me, and everything wasn't quite perfect, but overall Dolphin was the most stable and functional emulator I've used since the ZSNES days.

I dunno about that although I LOVED ZSNES.

My issue was the first time I tried Dolphin out this year I used the STABLE build. So I had been seeing slower gameplay than many videos I saw. Also, I think I used too much AA.

I'm only using 2x AA but 4x IR now (2x AA only for security of smoothness in all games without having to switch it around. Will leave higher when I pick up a new GPU next year).

So far I haven't heard an audio glitch yet or slowdown that has taken me out of my experience.
I've only played Mario Kart Double Dash (Game crashed in one race so far of the TONS of races I played but looks amazing), and SMG which I had lots of issues with before where it was playable but not perfect. Now, it feels flawlessly smooth and beautiful. Switching to the current releases, along with how much progress has been made in the last 4-5 months really helped.

https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2014/08/23/dolphinbar-review/

That's the review for the new sensorbar for Dolphin.

Also, tried Starfox Assault which played very well.

My next game I'm going to try will be Twilight Princess, a complete playthrough. I think I'll wait til I get the sensor bar setup though so I can use a gamecube controller.
And I'll probably try Metroid next to see how that game has improved.

Can't wait to see how it performs on wii games once I'm all set up.

 

[mmntech]

I've used it for Gamecube titles. I find it still chokes graphically on some things, or there's glitches and audio slowdowns. Emulating PowerPC hardware with good performance has always been a bit tricky. Rosetta was always the best solution, but that's Apple's proprietary software. It's also been gone from OSX for some time.

I remember Wind Waker being playable with big slowdowns at times. I plan on getting a Wii U, so I'll just grab the HD remastered version. Twilight Princess was also playable but with slowdowns and glitching of the HUD. I have that game for Wii anyway.

Haven't tried it with Wii games since I have a Wii to play them on, and most of the decent ones are still in print.

 

[Revolution 11]

I dunno about that although I LOVED ZSNES.

My issue was the first time I tried Dolphin out this year I used the STABLE build. So I had been seeing slower gameplay than many videos I saw. Also, I think I used too much AA.

First of all, the emulator developers recommend Haswell CPUs, since Dolphin gets almost 25% improvements in speed over Ivy Bridge at the same clocks. This was true as early as Dolphin 3.0, long before any of the recent performance optimizations. Even with Haswell though, the recommended CPU is i5-4670 or better.

Second, two of the developers, comex and Fiora, have been on a tear recently. Star War Rogue Leader has a doubling of speed thanks to Fiora, for example. comex has made smaller improvements, around 10-16%, but they affect all games, not just MMU games like Rogue Leader.

Third, you probably did use too much AA, I do it all the time, .


Just the August and September optimizations have yielded a minimum 40% improvements to most games and as high as 110%.

Here is the September changelog for Dolphin. Some hyperbole in the descriptions but you get the picture.
https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2014/09/30/dolphin-progress-report-september-2014/

 

[Bubbleawsome]

I actually just downloaded it too. All the hype with the new release got me into it. Once the 4.xGB .iso's finish up I'll be ready to go. The two devs racing each other for more performance helps everyone out. I'm just fine with upscaling to double my resolution. We will see how it works!

 

[Revolution 11]

You might as well have waited till Christmas. Otherwise you will end up downloading each month's build after reading the changelog.

 

[Eric1987]

You guys must have crap PC's. My old 580 3gb ran everything at 1080p pretty much maxed graphical settings too. I did I think 5x internal res.

 

[mazeroth]

This is great news! I played through both Mario Galaxies about a year ago on my i5-3570k @ 4.4 ghz. with an HD6850 and while it played OK, there were a lot of slowdowns due to the sound and nothing I tried fixed it. Not a weak computer, by any means. I'm going to give a newer build a shot and hope I can get the Dolphin experience I was hoping for.

 

[Dream Operator]

SWEET! Thanks for this thread.

If you all haven't played NewerSMB Wii, now's the time.

http://www.newerteam.com/

 

[Rakehellion]

Buuuut then I discovered you need to download the actual games off of torrent sites and that part seems shady to me.

You can rip the games with a hacked Wii. Or get someone to do it for you. Or just learn how to use Bittorrent.

 

[Rakehellion]

SWEET! Thanks for this thread.

If you all haven't played NewerSMB Wii, now's the time.

http://www.newerteam.com/

"Newer is a full unofficial sequel to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, crafted over the span of 3 years by a team of devoted Nintendo fans. Playable legally on any homebrew-enabled Wii; no piracy or hardware mods needed."

Except that they stole Nintendo trademarks and graphics, making it pretty illegal from the start.

And no thonx to unofficial sequels.

 

[sweenish]

I'll be keen to see how GCN emulation goes. But first I'll have to care enough to get a gamecube controller adapter. And then have the time to dive into some GCN goodness.

It seems like the majority of the fixes are specifically for the Wii. I have a Wii, but I imagine I'll eventually have to shift over to an emulator. It would be nice there wasn't a restriction on the actual discs like there is now.

 

[Revolution 11]

You guys must have crap PC's. My old 580 3gb ran everything at 1080p pretty much maxed graphical settings too. I did I think 5x internal res.

GPUs are not the usual bottleneck, CPUs are. Though with a quad-core Haswell at 3.2 Ghz or faster, Gamecube games run pretty flawlessly.

The updates really help people using older desktops or laptops. Since recent Dolphin updates removed audio playing at a different rate from the frame rate, you need close to 100% emulation speed to avoid the audio being slowed down as well. Improving the CPU emulation in Dolphin will reduce the hardware you need for 100% emulation speed.

For example, I could play Twilight Princess on my 2007 laptop with Dolphin 3.0 at a horrible 15 FPS or about half the normal speed. But the sound played back normally, allowing for some immersion. With the latest Dolphin builds, the sound itself would play at half speed and would be linked to the FPS.

The new speed optimizations now let me play Twilight Princess at 27 FPS, very close to the intended FPS.

 

[Alok_Awasthi]

I only play Windwaker and RE4 ...both run full speed without any glitch. Best emulator imo

 

[Dream Operator]

"Newer is a full unofficial sequel to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, crafted over the span of 3 years by a team of devoted Nintendo fans. Playable legally on any homebrew-enabled Wii; no piracy or hardware mods needed."

Except that they stole Nintendo trademarks and graphics, making it pretty illegal from the start.

And no thonx to unofficial sequels.

I wondered about the legality of all that.

Anyway, your loss as it's well done.

 

[IllogicalGlory]

It really sucks that you can't run wii disks, that being said, I "acquired" Mario Galaxy 2 (I don't feel guilty, since I do own the game) and it looks and plays great at 4x native resolution (3570K + GTX 670). Somewhat difficult to play with a mouse and keyboard, but doable.

The gamecube side, however, doesn't work very well. I get terrible frames while LOTR: the Third Age, despite it being rated as perfectly compatible. None of the other games I play are really usuable. (Rogue Squadron 2 & 3 and LOTR: Return of the King all have major glitches).

 

[Revolution 11]

Rogue Squadron 2 is known to have buggy slow performance, though the last build fixed a lot of the speed problems. The game is still very buggy.

Other Gamecube games work fine for me.