Is it possible to have 2 different Dolphin folders for different games

ChronicMasturbator · 10-08-2019, 06:47 PM #1

What i mean is it took me ages to get the settings just perfect for the 1 GameCube game i run using Dolphin, and now i wanna play Silent Hill Shattered Memories which is going to mean having to change some settings to fix issues with that game. I know all about creating a txt file named "portable" so that way your Dolphin setup and all related files (like saves) remains self-contained in that folder, and in the past when i had an issue like this, i would just download 2 copies of Dolphin and put a portable file in both to stop them interacting with each other... but (and i know this might sound dumb... but 1. until now i've only used Dolphin for just that 1 game, no others... and 2. i only recently started using Dolphin again as anyone who recognizes me will know for years i've kept switching between Dolphin and my, now sold, modded console) in the past you didn't install Dolphin like you do with Dolphin 5.0 (which is still the last released stable version... been like that for ages now)... you just downloaded an app.

To sum up, i'm confused now because i don't really know how installations are different. I'm not a PC expert in the slightest (just know the basics)... so can i install it again to a different folder and put a portable file in there for SH SM... or, i don't know... copy my Dolphin folder to a thumb drive, delete the portable, make a new portable and then copy that back to my PC and it will not interact with my original Dolphin folder and i can use that for SH SM? (P.S. hope someone will understand all that and i didn't simply confuse the f*ck outta you all btw like i have myself now lol)

**JosJuice** · 10-08-2019, 07:35 PM #2

Either download a development version of Dolphin and extract it to a new folder (the development builds don't use installers) or just copy the files of an existing install to a new folder, then you can put a portable.txt file in that new folder.

**Admentus** · (This post was last modified: 10-08-2019, 08:58 PM by Admentus.)

(10-08-2019, 06:47 PM)ChronicMasturbator Wrote: What i mean is it took me ages to get the settings just perfect for the 1 GameCube game i run using Dolphin, and now i wanna play Silent Hill Shattered Memories which is going to mean having to change some settings to fix issues with that game. I know all about creating a txt file named "portable" so that way your Dolphin setup and all related files (like saves) remains self-contained in that folder, and in the past when i had an issue like this, i would just download 2 copies of Dolphin and put a portable file in both to stop them interacting with each other... but (and i know this might sound dumb... but 1. until now i've only used Dolphin for just that 1 game, no others... and 2. i only recently started using Dolphin again as anyone who recognizes me will know for years i've kept switching between Dolphin and my, now sold, modded console) in the past you didn't install Dolphin like you do with Dolphin 5.0 (which is still the last released stable version... been like that for ages now)... you just downloaded an app.

To sum up, i'm confused now because i don't really know how installations are different. I'm not a PC expert in the slightest (just know the basics)... so can i install it again to a different folder and put a portable file in there for SH SM... or, i don't know... copy my Dolphin folder to a thumb drive, delete the portable, make a new portable and then copy that back to my PC and it will not interact with my original Dolphin folder and i can use that for SH SM? (P.S. hope someone will understand all that and i didn't simply confuse the f*ck outta you all btw like i have myself now lol)

If I am understanding this correctly, you want two separate settings folders for Dolphin so that you can maintain separate settings for separate games.

Isn't it easier then to just adjust the game specific GameIni settings with the appropriate settings instead?

That way you can keep a single version of Dolphin, but enable different settings for each game.

ChronicMasturbator · 10-09-2019, 12:20 PM #4

(10-08-2019, 08:57 PM)Admentus Wrote: If I am understanding this correctly, you want two separate settings folders for Dolphin so that you can maintain separate settings for separate games.

Isn't it easier then to just adjust the game specific GameIni settings with the appropriate settings instead?

That way you can keep a single version of Dolphin, but enable different settings for each game.

Yes that's exactly what i'm saying... but where you said "Isn't it easier then to just adjust the game specific GameIni settings with the appropriate settings instead?"... no idea what means (i said in that long rant i'm NOT tech savvy) This is embarrassing... but... could you explain what you mean like you were explaining it to a 5 year old?

**Craftyawesome** · 10-10-2019, 07:00 AM #5

Go to dolphin and right click your game and hit properties. Stay under game config, but switch to editor. Your custom config is on the bottom.
Use the presets or a guide like
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-un...s-per-game
to figure out what you want to insert.
For example, if you want to disable Store EFB Copies to Texture Only, insert

Code:
[Video_Hacks]

EFBToTextureEnable = False

Capitalization matters, and it may also not work correctly if you put something like two [Video_Hacks] in the same file.

**Admentus** · 10-10-2019, 07:10 AM #6

To complement further, you can find a pretty complete list of all GameIni Settings commands here: https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-un...s-per-game.

ChronicMasturbator · 10-13-2019, 03:17 AM #7

(10-10-2019, 07:10 AM)Admentus Wrote: To complement further, you can find a pretty complete list of all GameIni Settings commands here: https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-un...s-per-game.

[color=#000000]Ok, sorry for taking so long to get back but i've been busy. Alright i've now done that with the GameIni. Umm, reckon i could ask a favour? As i said i know f*ck all about tech stuff (most of the settings in Dolphin i have no clue what they even are) I know this probably looks like alot but it's not actually, so... if you go to these links it shows you all the settings i have for Luigi's Mansion. Based on my system specs i'll put below... could you simply reply back with the very same screenshots, but set to what you think will run SH SM the best on my PC? (It's just that i've heard that game has some bugs that needs very specific settings) I'll be very appreciative if one of you could. Thanks.[/color]

[color=#000000]Configuration - [/color][color=#006abd]https://s347.photobucket.com/user/CharlieTheWolfhound/library/Dolphin%20graphics%20settings?page=1[/color]

[color=#000000]Graphics - [/color][color=#006abd]https://s347.photobucket.com/user/CharlieTheWolfhound/library/Dolphin%20graphics%20settings?page=1[/color]

[color=#000000]My system specs...[/color]

[color=#000000]Operating System : Windows 10 Home x64[/color]
[color=#000000]SSD : Samsung 960 Evo M.2 250GB NVMe[/color]
[color=#000000]Motherboard : ASRock Z390 Pro4[/color]
[color=#000000]CPU : i5-9400F @ 2.9GHzGPU : Gigabyte GTX1060 G1 Gaming[/color]
[color=#000000]RAM : 16GB (DDR4)[/color]
[color=#000000]Power Supply : Thermaltake Toughpower GX1 600W 80+ Gold[/color]

**Craftyawesome** · 10-13-2019, 01:01 PM #8

Upgrade to the latest development build. The vertex rounding hack added after 5.0 stable really helps silent hill.
Vertex rounding should be automatically enabled in these versions.

Also, 4k with 8x msaa is a lot for a 1060. I would drop it down to 2x of either SSAA or MSAA if you are at 4k and still running fullspeed.
Make sure you have a 4k monitor if you are going to use 6x native. If you only have a 1080p/1440p panel, you are just wasting gpu power that could go to higher AA.

The only other thing with silent hill is the snow, which is what I said in my last reply.