Removal of 30fps cap on games for true 60fps gameplay

[JayGee24]

Hello, everyone! I brand new to the forums, and I would like to see if what I have in mind can be implemented into Dolphin itself.

As some of you might be aware, not all games run at a true 60 fps. Titles like Super Mario Sunshine, Pikmin and Super Mario Galaxy all run at 30fps, regardless of what your fps counter says or how much CPU or GPU power you have under the hood. The difference between 30fps and 60fps is quite noticeable, especially during high levels of motion during gameplay. 60fps is visually much smoother than 30 fps to a great degree. Presently in Dolphin, you can raise the frame limiter or completely turn it off, but the game is rendered at double or triple the speed. The reason why it does not render at normal speed is because most games are rendered on a frame by frame basis and not with an internal time based mechanism like most PC games. Normally when you run a regular PC game below 60fps the game speed itself is uneffected and only the visual smoothness in impacted, however that is not the case with most Gamecube and Wii games.


A Nintendo 64 emulator has implemented forcing games to run at native 60fps by overclocking the virtual processors. Notice the difference in visual smoothness.

Goldeneye, Nintendo 64 60fps (Originally 15-20fps):

http://www.retrocopy.com/forumthread/414-1/1964-ultrafast---60fps-n64-emulator.aspx


Now Dolphin does have the V-Beam hack that will overclock the virtual GPU, but games cannot be run faster due to frame by frame timing. The only way we can force 60fps is to patch the game, or interpret the code that sets the framerate. Pikmin runs 60fps in menu, and 30 ingame, so it does look like there is a way to force games to run faster.

Members on the PCSX2 fourm have set the limiter with Kingdom of Hearts:

http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Kingdom-Hearts-2-Final-Mix-60fps-hack


What do you think? Can we enjoy our titles with super smooth gameplay? Please share your thoughts!

Also, if this was implemented, gaining control of game speed could be used as a viable alternative to frame skipping. Games could be rendered much like native PC titles! That means no slowdown, just a reduced framerate as opposed to a 60fps game running at half speed at 30fps (Which is still a playable framerate). Let me know if this is feasible!

[JMC47]

It'd have to be implemented on a per-game basis by people who know the games well. This is a job for game patches/hooks, not the emulator itself.

For note: I spent a few weeks trying to do this in Wind Waker and got absolutely nowhere.

[JayGee24]

Is that possible with the game setting INI files that come with Dolphin? I could see doing some of the more popular games. I tried to force Pikmin to run at 60fps using Cheat Engine, but I couldn't find the address to the piece of code that controls the game speed. Even finding a way to half the game speed and force Dolphin to run at 120fps would give you true 60fps.

[JMC47]

We could put a cheatcode in the ini, yes, but, the problem is getting it to the point where a cheatcode makes it 60 fps. If you can't do that, then we can't put anything in the INI.

[JayGee24]

(06-14-2014, 07:53 AM)JMC47 Wrote: We could put a cheatcode in the ini, yes, but, the problem is getting it to the point where a cheatcode makes it 60 fps. If you can't do that, then we can't put anything in the INI.

Got it. I believe the Members on the PCSX2 fourm used Cheat Engine to locate the address for the timing. Do you have Pikmin? I was thinking that would be a good candidate for testing, because it switches from 60 to 30fps from menus. What have you used to try to modify Wind Walker?

[JMC47]

I tried using Dolphin's built in cheat system. Wind Waker also goes to 60 fps during some intro movies, which is why I thought it was a good candidate. It's also very popular, and I thought a lot of people would use it.

I tried narrowing down the address, and couldn't figure it out.

[JayGee24]

(06-14-2014, 08:10 AM)JMC47 Wrote: I tried using Dolphin's built in cheat system. Wind Waker also goes to 60 fps during some intro movies, which is why I thought it was a good candidate. It's also very popular, and I thought a lot of people would use it.

I tried narrowing down the address, and couldn't figure it out.

Have you tried Cheat Engine? It's search tools are pretty extensive. Do the tutorials when you first install it! I recommend it.

[Quicklime_Mistress]

(06-14-2014, 07:23 AM)JayGee24 Wrote: Goldeneye, Nintendo 64 60fps (Originally 15-20fps):

http://www.retrocopy.com/forumthread/414-1/1964-ultrafast---60fps-n64-emulator.aspx

Wow! That's some really cool stuff.
I always thought changing the framerate of a console game would require some cheating etc, never even thought of overclocking the virtual hardware. That's so smart!
This blew my mind, thanks for pointing it out.

[JayGee24]

I did it!

After fooling around with game specific settings, I managed to run Pikmin at 60 fps with no speedup!! I simply enabled the V-Beam speed hack which overclocked the virtual GPU. The gameplay is phenomenally smooth now! Can you confirm that this works with other games? This is an incredible find.

[kinkinkijkin]

It's not an "incredible find", it's what that hack does. And, yes, it does do that. That's pretty much the whole point of it, iirc.