When I'm gonna play a game with dolphin, I always look for the specific version that works best with that particular game through forums and testing. I have a folder with several builds.
For example, after trying many different versions when I bought Skyward Sword (and couldn't plug in the wii to play it xD), I could not get both good performance AND no glitches, until I read about 7719, which plays it perfectly fine from beggining to end.
As it happens, that seems to be the case for both TP and WW too.
With 3.5 I get around 5 fps less with the same functionality.
For Zeldas, I haven't found a better version than 7719.
Of course, you can always get the job done through brute force, but since I won't actually change my pc until the next year, I have to go other ways.
Edit: Ok let me scratch that. It doesn't run at 30 always but in the hyrule field. It drops also in the faron woods, and has little drops now and again. It's playable though. I also found a glitch.
For a little context, I tested all this like a year ago, when I actually started playing the GC version. I got 3 or 4 temples and stopped playing, and now I've decided start again, but with the wii version instead.
So back in the day, I played with HLE until it pained me not hearing Midna's desperate hour when the moment came, and so I looked for the solution and eventually changed to LLE. That's why I didn't recall framerate drops on places like the woods.
And that's why I didn't now about this glitch: I turned all the way down the volume of the wiimote, cause it sounds terrible, and it didn't help. It still sounds, and at the same volume.
EDIT+: OK so another update, for us who have to squeeze every inch of performance while actually being able to play without glitches.
r7719, while having good performance, did at least 2 things wrong. First, I couldn't load custom textures (that nice pack a couple pages back), and more importantly, I had a crash.
So I tried going to v3.0. While this version doesn't crash (I've unlocked all hyrule by now, no crashes) and does load textures, it throws like 5 fps less than r7719.
And that's when I stumbled onto this:
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-3-...zed-openmp
I downloaded and tested the v3.0 listed there (3.0 r7617), and, surprise surprise, all the goodness from both worlds. It performes as good as it's gonna get (a min on 18 fps with LLE in the worst part of Hyrule Field, 30 or playable (not less than 25-27) outside of the field), AND loads textures AND doesn't crash.
With HLE of course is fully playable, around 4-5 more fps than LLE when it drops from 30.
So there, my 2 cents to make the most of playing this game the dolphin way. It's a same I don't have a nice i7 to go all LLE on this damn Hyrule Field.
For example, after trying many different versions when I bought Skyward Sword (and couldn't plug in the wii to play it xD), I could not get both good performance AND no glitches, until I read about 7719, which plays it perfectly fine from beggining to end.
As it happens, that seems to be the case for both TP and WW too.
With 3.5 I get around 5 fps less with the same functionality.
For Zeldas, I haven't found a better version than 7719.
Of course, you can always get the job done through brute force, but since I won't actually change my pc until the next year, I have to go other ways.
Edit: Ok let me scratch that. It doesn't run at 30 always but in the hyrule field. It drops also in the faron woods, and has little drops now and again. It's playable though. I also found a glitch.
For a little context, I tested all this like a year ago, when I actually started playing the GC version. I got 3 or 4 temples and stopped playing, and now I've decided start again, but with the wii version instead.
So back in the day, I played with HLE until it pained me not hearing Midna's desperate hour when the moment came, and so I looked for the solution and eventually changed to LLE. That's why I didn't recall framerate drops on places like the woods.
And that's why I didn't now about this glitch: I turned all the way down the volume of the wiimote, cause it sounds terrible, and it didn't help. It still sounds, and at the same volume.
EDIT+: OK so another update, for us who have to squeeze every inch of performance while actually being able to play without glitches.
r7719, while having good performance, did at least 2 things wrong. First, I couldn't load custom textures (that nice pack a couple pages back), and more importantly, I had a crash.
So I tried going to v3.0. While this version doesn't crash (I've unlocked all hyrule by now, no crashes) and does load textures, it throws like 5 fps less than r7719.
And that's when I stumbled onto this:
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-3-...zed-openmp
I downloaded and tested the v3.0 listed there (3.0 r7617), and, surprise surprise, all the goodness from both worlds. It performes as good as it's gonna get (a min on 18 fps with LLE in the worst part of Hyrule Field, 30 or playable (not less than 25-27) outside of the field), AND loads textures AND doesn't crash.
With HLE of course is fully playable, around 4-5 more fps than LLE when it drops from 30.
So there, my 2 cents to make the most of playing this game the dolphin way. It's a same I don't have a nice i7 to go all LLE on this damn Hyrule Field.