Bit of a problem with Timesplitters 2

[Yossarian]

Hello, everyone. I recently installed the Dolphin Emu 3.5 with hopes that I wouldn't have to lug a game console all the way to college. It's working great so far (no crashes, plenty of performance options, etc.), but I've been having issues running Timesplitters 2 without problems.

The issues vary from minor stuttering to shifting objects to FPS drops as low as 2 frames per second. There was a stuttering audio problem when I firs installed the 367 version, but it seems to have vanished when I downgraded to the stable build. My laptop should be powerful enough to run it (specs will be listed below), especially if it can run Bioshock Infinite on medium settings with only minor lag.

The specs for my Acer laptop are:

AMD Phenom II X3 Mobile Processor N830 (2.1 GHz)
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
4 GB RAM
500 GB HDD

I don't want to attempt to overclock the laptop, as it's been very reliable, and I know I'll find some way to damage it as a result.

Any help you guys can offer will be greatly appreciated.

[Shonumi]

My laptop should be powerful enough to run it (specs will be listed below), especially if it can run Bioshock Infinite on medium settings with only minor lag.

Emulators and modern PC games are two very different programs that will use your computer's hardware resources in very different ways. A great deal of modern PC games rely chiefly on the GPU for performance. In Dolphin, the GPU is responsible for how high you can set the Internal Resolution (for HD gameplay) and AA; the rest depends largely on the CPU. Time Splitters 2 is incredibly "light" on the GPUs, just about anything will run it near fullspeed, at least at 1x IR. It's also very light on the CPU. Anyway, you are correct, you shouldn't be getting any major issues, since TS2 runs like butter on just about anything.

Try the latest revisions. 3.5-367 is old as dirt and from the old, unofficial site. Download the newest builds here: https://dolphin-emu.org/download/ Tell us is you still have issues on the latest, what the issues are, and try to post your settings as screenshots so we can see exactly what you have enabled.

[LordVador]

My laptop should be powerful enough to run it

Your laptop isn't good at all (your CPU especially) for Dolphin.
Moreover you've tried a "light" game. So you can imagine what would be the result for a more demanding game.
You might be more lucky by using old builds (they tend to be faster). However they aren't supported on the forum for obvious reasons

[Yossarian]

My laptop should be powerful enough to run it (specs will be listed below), especially if it can run Bioshock Infinite on medium settings with only minor lag.

Emulators and modern PC games are two very different programs that will use your computer's hardware resources in very different ways. A great deal of modern PC games rely chiefly on the GPU for performance. In Dolphin, the GPU is responsible for how high you can set the Internal Resolution (for HD gameplay) and AA; the rest depends largely on the CPU. Time Splitters 2 is incredibly "light" on the GPUs, just about anything will run it near fullspeed, at least at 1x IR. It's also very light on the CPU. Anyway, you are correct, you shouldn't be getting any major issues, since TS2 runs like butter on just about anything.

Try the latest revisions. 3.5-367 is old as dirt and from the old, unofficial site. Download the newest builds here: https://dolphin-emu.org/download/ Tell us is you still have issues on the latest, what the issues are, and try to post your settings as screenshots so we can see exactly what you have enabled.

My laptop should be powerful enough to run it

Your laptop isn't good at all (your CPU especially) for Dolphin.
Moreover you've tried a "light" game. So you can imagine what would be the result for a more demanding game.
You might be more lucky by using old builds (they tend to be faster). However they aren't supported on the forum for obvious reasons

Not trying to be rude, but you're telling two completely opposing pieces of advice. Should I just try the new emulator and go back if the problems aren't fixed?

Also, it's not like I'm going to be using Dolphin for other games. I'm literally using it only for Timesplitters 2 (and possibly Future Perfect, if I can get it to run with minimal problems). So, I don't care about trying to run "heavy" games; I just want to be able to play a "light" one.

Anyway, I do appreciate the info about the intensity of emulators. I had a feeling that it would take quite a bit of processing power to run one, but I never imagined it could be this complicated. Hopefully, I'll be able to make it run smoothly, if only for TS2.

[Shonumi]

Not trying to be rude, but you're telling two completely opposing pieces of advice. Should I just try the new emulator and go back if the problems aren't fixed?

Why not try my advice and LordVadors? It won't kill you. Anyway, I never tried TS2 with my laptop on 3.5 or the latest, so I don't know for sure if hardware like yours will still be able to play TS2. I know for a fact it can on 3.0, but like LordVador said, that version is no longer supported. The latest revisions will probably solve the "shifting objects" issue, but in the latest revisions you need to get fullspeed in order to get decent audio (using OpenAL helps if you increase the Latency) but you'll still have to contend with possible slowdowns. The older revisions will most likely run fullspeed, but you might encounter a number of bugs or glitches that have since been fixed. You'll have to pick your poison, so-to-speak.

Also, it's not like I'm going to be using Dolphin for other games. I'm literally using it only for Timesplitters 2 (and possibly Future Perfect, if I can get it to run with minimal problems). So, I don't care about trying to run "heavy" games; I just want to be able to play a "light" one.

Future Perfect, unfortunately, is not a light game like TS2 is. You'll have speed issues. If you play this game at the lowest graphics settings (1x IR, no AA) and you still get slowdowns, the issue is with your CPU not being fast enough. Aside from using older, unsupported revisions, you don't have many options. I'm not even sure you can overclock a AMD Phenom II X3 Mobile Processor N830, and overclocking isn't recommended for laptops in general.

I had a feeling that it would take quite a bit of processing power to run one, but I never imagined it could be this complicated. Hopefully, I'll be able to make it run smoothly, if only for TS2.

Dolphin can be a beast among emulators. Like LordVador said, your hardware isn't particularly suited for Dolphin, even on "light" games. You might have to wait until your next hardware upgrade, whenever that may be.

[LordVador]

Not trying to be rude, but you're telling two completely opposing pieces of advice

Not really. Shonumi recommended you to try latest builds and he was right. You can do it. But I supposed it would be as slow for you as with the build you were using. That's why I anticipated and suggested you to try with old builds.
You can try with latest builds first and report how it's working of course

[Yossarian]

Why not try my advice and LordVadors? It won't kill you. Anyway, I never tried TS2 with my laptop on 3.5 or the latest, so I don't know for sure if hardware like yours will still be able to play TS2. I know for a fact it can on 3.0, but like LordVador said, that version is no longer supported. The latest revisions will probably solve the "shifting objects" issue, but in the latest revisions you need to get fullspeed in order to get decent audio (using OpenAL helps if you increase the Latency) but you'll still have to contend with possible slowdowns. The older revisions will most likely run fullspeed, but you might encounter a number of bugs or glitches that have since been fixed. You'll have to pick your poison, so-to-speak.

Future Perfect, unfortunately, is not a light game like TS2 is. You'll have speed issues. If you play this game at the lowest graphics settings (1x IR, no AA) and you still get slowdowns, the issue is with your CPU not being fast enough. Aside from using older, unsupported revisions, you don't have many options. I'm not even sure you can overclock a AMD Phenom II X3 Mobile Processor N830, and overclocking isn't recommended for laptops in general.

Dolphin can be a beast among emulators. Like LordVador said, your hardware isn't particularly suited for Dolphin, even on "light" games. You might have to wait until your next hardware upgrade, whenever that may be.

Once again, I greatly appreciate all of the help you and Vador have been giving me. Should I start with 3.5-2194 to see if there's an improvement, and drop down to 3.0 if that fails to do the job?


I'm willing to accept the possibility of it never fully working on my laptop, but I'd still like to give it the old college try.

[LordVador]

Should I start with 3.5-2194 to see if there's an improvement, and drop down to 3.0 if that fails to do the job?

You can do that. And you can try 3.5 stable version before 3.0

[Yossarian]

You can do that. And you can try 3.5 stable version before 3.0

I've been trying 3.5 stable release. It cleared up a lot of audio issues and slightly improved the framerate (from the 3.5-367 release), but the respawn effect and wider open areas seem to cause most of the slowdown.

[NaturalViolence]

Your cpu is likely too slow to keep up fullspeed emulation in those scenarios. You can try 3.0. It might get it back up to fullspeed but I doubt it. I wouldn't recommend going back any further than that.