[Unofficial] NVIDIA Shield TV – Playable game list (with settings)

[Moukrea]

Statistics:

Tested: 87 games | Playable : 58 games

Last update : 2019/07/28

This is a non exhaustive list of the games you can play on NVIDIA Shield TV, using the latest official builds.
This list is not official, but community made. You can submit the games you enjoyed on the Shield and I’ll update it every now and then.
Please concider that the games listed here won’t be 100% playable and accurate, it’s emulation, on a not so powerful device.

• Why do you mostly use PAL version of games rather than NTSC?

Click to reveal:

First of all, that's because I'm French! But there's also a technical advantage to do so. You probably know that PAL versions of the games ran at 50Hz rather than 60Hz for NTSC... Which mean that you save 10 frame per seconds to render, making your game less prone to slowdowns and stutters! Some PAL games are running in 25FPS, while their NTSC counterparts are running in 30FPS... Those 5FPS less may also help with overhall game performance. If you are a 60Hz addicted person which is not ready to lose about 10FPS during gameplay, the SHIELD might not be powerful enough, but this guide might still relevant in many cases (as there are some games where the SHIELD will be able to acheive 60FPS, but that's gonna be a hit or miss experience).

• What is your go-to settings on the SHIELD (.ini template)?

Click to reveal:

The following settings are my go-to tweaks to squeeze out the most frames I can from Dolphin on the SHIELD. It has been tinkered for maximum performance, thus sacrifying some emulation accuracy. While it helps to makes many games playable, a few settings break completely some games, which is one of the reasons why to use per-games settings. In the playable game list bellow, you'll see some settings recommended for each games, written in blue.

Code:

[ActionReplay]
[ActionReplay_Enabled]
[Core]
CPUThread = True
GFXBackend = Vulkan
CPUCore = 4
FPRF = False
DSPHLE = True
EmulationSpeed = 1.0
OverclockEnable = True
Overclock = 1.0
SyncGPU = False
FastDiscSpeed = True
GPUDeterminismMode = none
MMU = False
ProgressiveScan = True
GameCubeLanguage = 2
# 0 = English/Japanese, 1 = German, 2 = French
# 3 = Spanish, 4 = Italian, 5 = Dutch
SyncOnSkipIdle = False
PAL60 = False
[Video_Settings]
InternalResolution = 3
ShaderCompilationMode = 0
WaitForShadersBeforeStarting = False
SafeTextureCacheColorSamples = 128
AspectRatio = 3
wideScreenHack = False
MSAA = 0
SSAA = False
FastDepthCalc = True
EnablePixelLighting = False
DisableFog = True
HiresTextures = True
[Video_Enhancements]
MaxAnisotropy = 0
ForceFiltering = False
PostProcessingShader =
ForceTrueColor = True
DisableCopyFilter = True
ArbitraryMipmapDetection = False
[Video_Hacks]
EFBToTextureEnable = True
EFBScaledCopy = False
EFBAccessEnable = False
EFBEmulateFormatChanges = False
BBoxEnable = False
VertexRounding = False
XFBToTextureEnable = True
ImmediateXFBenable = True
[Video_Hardware]
VSync = False
[DSP]
#### EnableJIT = True
[Wii]
Language = 3
# 0 = Japanese, 1 = English, 2 = German
# 3 = French, 4 = Spanish, 5 = Italian, 6 = Dutch, 7 = Simplified Chinese
# 8 = Traditional Chinese, 9 = Korean

• Why do you use per game settings and how?

Click to reveal:

Why
Per game settings allow you to tinker precisely each of your games to squeeze out the best of them on your device. Many games require specific settings to run properly on the SHIELD (and actually many other devices). Also, it allows you to use AR code for proper widescreen "hacks" and let you set per games aspect ratio and so on.

How
To use it, simply copy the content of the provided template above and paste it into an .ini file that you have to name according to your game ID in "dolphin-emu/GameSettings". To do so, you will need a text editor such as (for exemple) Notepad++ on PC. As for knowing what's your game ID, you can get it from the GameTDB website, Dolphin Emulator on your PC (right click on your game and go to the "Info" tab) or by holding the A button on your game in Dolphin Emulator for Android and selecting any of the submenus (the game ID will be shown in the top title bar).
Of course you can also set the game settings directly like this, but you won't be able to use AR codes and several tweaks that are not shown in Dolphin UI.

• Why do you play at 3 times Internal Resolution (1080p)?

Click to reveal:

Internal Resolution affects mostly the GPU and as a matter of fact, the GPU isn't the bottleneck on the SHIELD. Running games bellow 1080p is not likely to give you a smooth gameplay as if the game struggles in 1080p, the very few frames you will (maybe) squeeze by running in native resolution/720p won't really help with playability.

• How can you play my games in 16:9 (widescreen)?

Click to reveal:

There's several way to do so, but for all of them to work, you have to set your game aspect-ratio ratio to "Stretch to window" (in game .ini/settings).
- Stretch: You can stretch the 4:3 image to 16:9, which, while filling the entire screen, doesn't look so nice.
- Native Widescreen: Many GameCube games have native widescreen (anamorphic) support. To use it, there's usually an option about Screen-Type/Screen-Size with choices like "4:3/16:9", "Regular/Widescreen", "Normal/Anamorphic" and so on. This settings usually get saved into the memory card so you don't have to set it everytime you boot up the game.
- AR Codes: Then you have AR codes (Action Replay) for games that doesn't support 16:9 natively. There's a topic here in Dolphin forum's that shares most of the widescreen AR codes available (click here to visit it). This list is pretty complete and you might find most of your games in there. You'll find bellow an explanation about how to use AR codes.
- Widescreen Hack: But some games have no native widescreen support and no AR codes... For those, Dolphin itself might just have what you need! It's a setting called Widescreen Hack (wideScreenHack in .ini tweaks), it "hacks" the game to display a 16:9 image, but being hacky, it makes some games look awful on the areas that would be natively black in the game native (4:3) aspect ratio, it's a little try-hope-and-see experience but when it works, it definitely is better than a stretched image!
- Gecko Codes: Lastly, there's Gecko codes that exists for widescreen support too, getting quite often better results than AR codes. Unfortunately, Gecko codes support is broken right now, so you won't be able to use it.
- Wii (native): As for the Wii, it has native widescreen support so... Well you're good to go!

• How can I use AR codes on Android (for widescreen for exemple)?
This section remains to be written at the moment.


More guidelines to come!


Games stated as not working well/not working at all are not necessary not working well! They need extensive testing/tweaking as I didn't bother tweaking them too much... In my experience they don't work well, but if you're willing to try harder yourself and report back to me how you managed to get them playable, your contribution will be more than welcome!

The most playable games are rated 4/5 stars.
Specific settings will be provided for each games (if they need any), in their description.

Also, for each game, will be provided the number of players and wether or not it support 16:9 (natively or through AR code)

Contributions are welcome!

GameCube

Show list:

007: Agent Under Fire ★★★☆☆
1-4 Players | Stretched
Tested with GW7F69 (France)
On the slow side but playable. Video playback issues.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.4 seems to help a lot.

007: From Russia With Love ★★★☆☆
1-4 Players | Stretched
Tested with GLZF69 (France)
Good performance but video playback has issues and pause menu is not working properly.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.5 seems to ease the audio-stretching issues but makes video playback slightly worse.

007: Nightfire ★★★★☆
1-4 Players | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GO7F69 (France)
A little slow and some video playback issues.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.4 makes it very playable.

Animal Crossing ★★★★★
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GAFP01 (Europe)
Performs very well as expected.

Alien Hominid ★★★★★
1-2 Players (Coop) | Stretched
Tested with GAHEGG (USA)
Near perfection, the stretched aspect ratio doesn’t bother much as its graphics are cartoony.

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean ★★★★☆
1 Player | Stretched
Tested with GDGP78 (Europe)
Not quite full speed all the time, but playable. Stretched widescreen is kind of a bummer but the Widescreen Hack does not work properly, nor the Gecko code...
Setting “Overclock” to 0.6 seems to help with audio stuttering a lot, therefore makes the game more pleasant.

Batman Begins ★★★★☆
1 Player | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GINX69 (Europe)
Gameplay feels slow but the game runs well.

Beyond Good and Evil ★★★☆☆
1 Player | Widescreen Hack
Tested with GGEY41 (Europe)
Doesn’t quite get to the expected framerate but works, totally playable if you don’t mind getting dips to 22-25 FPS (as it maintain the game speed anyway). Photo mode outpus black pictures, not really a problem for gameplay but it has to be said.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.4 seems to help a lot.

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg ★★★★☆
1-4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GEZP8P (Europe)
Smooth gameplay at pretty much all times, dialogs have display issues (known issue).

Bloody Roar: Primal Fury ★★★☆☆
1-2 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GBLP52 (Europe)
Seems to run at full speed but it feels off, stutters too but it is playable.

Bomberman Generation ★★★★★
1-4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GBGP7D (Europe)
Just works near perfection.
Set “EFBScaledCopy” to True fix the pixelated Cell-Shading.

Burnout 2: Point of Impact ★★★☆☆
1-2 Players | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GB4P51 (Europe)
Massive slowdowns when raining.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.4 seems to ease the problem a little.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour ★★★☆☆
1 Player | Stretched
Tested with GCOF52 (France)
A little on the slow side but playable.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.3 seems helpful.

Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO ★★★★☆
1-2 Players | Stretched
Tested with GEOP08 (Europe)
Works near perfection but stutters here and there
Setting “ImmediateXFBenable” to False makes the game work (remove all the flickering).

Cel Damage ★★★★☆
1-4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GCLP69 (Europe)
Stuttering & slowdowns.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.4 seems helpful.

Crazy Taxi ★★★★★
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GCTP51 (Europe)
Just works.

Die Hard: Vandetta ★★★★☆
1 Player | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GDIP7D (Europe)
Audio stutters.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.4 seems to fix the audio issue.

Dragon Ball Z Budokai ★★★★★
1-2 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GD7PB2 (Europe)
Jitters but fully playable without any bugs.

Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2 ★★★★★
1-2 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GZ3PB2 (Europe)
Jitters but fully playable without any bugs.

Dragon’s Lair 3D: Return to the Lair ★★★★☆
1 Player | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GDGP78 (Europe)
Video playback issues (not playing), good performance.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance ★★★★★
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GFEP01 (Europe)
Audio stutters in videos, but fully playable.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.6 totally fixes the audio issues.

Gauntlet: Dark Legacy ★★★★★
1-4 Players (Coop) | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GUNP5D (Europe)
Just works.

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent ★★★☆☆
1-4 Players | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GOYF69 (France)
On the slow side, but playable. Video playback issues, audio stutters.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.5 seems helpful; lower will make the game lag.

Gotcha Force ★★★★★
1-4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GG4P08 (Europe)
Just works.

I-Ninja ★★★★☆
1 Player | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GNJEAF (USA)
No video playback... But the game run smoothly!

Killer7 ★★★★★
1 Player – 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GK7P08 (Europe)
Works nearly perfectly.
Setting “EFBAccessEnable” to True makes it playable (as otherwise you’re unable to kill enemies).

Kirby Air Ride ★★★★★
1-4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GKYP01 (Europe)
Just works.

Lego Star Wars: The Video Game ★★★★★
1-2 Players (Coop) | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GL5X4F (Europe)
Just works.

Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy ★★★★★
1-2 Players (Coop) | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GL7P64 (Europe)
Just works.

Luigi’s Mansion ★★★★☆
1 Player – 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GLMP01 (Europe)
Stutters here and there but really playable.
Setting “EFBScaledCopy” to True fixes aliasing problem.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! ★★★★☆
1-4 Players – 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GM4P01 (Europe)
Shader cache makes it stutter but it is pretty playable.
Setting “EFBScaledCopy” to True fixes the pixelated distant blur.

Mario Power Tennis ★★★★☆
1-4 Players – 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GOMP01 (Europe)
Shader cache makes it stutter but it is playable.

Mario Smash Football / Super Mario Strikers ★★★★☆
1-4 Players – 16:9 (Native)
Tested with G4QP01 (Europe)
Stutters here and there but really playable.
Setting “EFBScaledCopy” to True fixes the pixelated backgrounds.

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects ★★★☆☆
1-2 Players | Widescreen Hack
Tested with GVLP69 (Europe)
Really slow in story mode.
Setting “wideScreenHack” to True makes the game run in widescreen.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.6 seems to help a little with performance.

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes ★★★★★
1 Player – 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GGSPA4 (Europe)
Just works.

Naruto: Clash of Ninja ★★★★★
1-2 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GNUPDA (Europe)
Works flawlessly.

P.N. 03 ★★★☆☆
1 Player – 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GPNP08 (Europe)
Stutters + Slowdowns from times to times and has some lights flickering issues.
Setting “EFBScaledCopy” to True fixes the pixelated distant blur.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door ★★★★☆
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with G8MP01 (Europe)
16:9 code is glitchy but it works (cannot be fixed as it requires Gecko codes to work). Gameplay is a bit slow sometimes.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.4 makes it very playable.

Pikmin ★★★★★
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GPIP01 (Europe)
Just works.

Pikmin 2 ★★★★★
1-2 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GPVP01 (Europe)
Just works.

Pokemon Colosseum ★★★★☆
1-4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GC6P01 (Europe)
Audio stutters and text display issues.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.6 fixes the audio, and setting “SafeTextureCacheColorSamples” to 0 (Safe) fixes the texts related issues.

Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness ★★★★☆
1-4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GC6P01 (Europe)
Audio stutters and text display issues.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.6 fixes the audio, and setting “SafeTextureCacheColorSamples” to 512 (Medium) fixes the texts related issues (still has some "acceptable" glitches).

Puyo Pop Fever ★★★★★
1-2 Players | Stretched
Tested with GPUP8P (Europe)
Just works.

Resident Evil 4 ★★★★☆
1 Player | Widescreen Hack
Tested with G4BP08 (Europe)
Displays an error message sometimes but works really well.
Setting “wideScreenHack” to True makes it 16:9 ready.

Serious Sam: Next Encounter ★★★★★
1-2 Players (Coop), up to 4 Players | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with G3BP9G (Europe)
Just works.

SoulCalibur II ★★★★★
1-2 Players | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GRSPAF (Europe)
Stutters from times to times, but perfectly playable
User @rclong says to set “Overclock” to 0.6, for me it was playable without it (maybe it helps with the NTSC version of the game).

SSX 3 ★★★☆☆
1-2 Players – 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GXBP69 (Europe)
Displays errors messages and crashes randomly sometimes but works fine with default settings.

Star Fox Adventures ★★★☆☆
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GSAP01 (Europe)
Big slowdowns and audio stutters.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.4 helps a lot with audio issues and makes it more playable, but it stills on the slow side.

Super Mario Sunshine ★★★★★
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GMSP01 (Europe)
Performs very well.

Super Smash Bros. Melee ★★★☆☆
1-4 Players – 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GALP01 (Europe)
Stutters quite often, being a fast-paced fighting game it is annoying, but the game is playable.

Tales of Symphonia ★★★★★
1-4 Players (Coop) | Widescreen Hack
Tested with GQSFAF (France)
Just works. There is an AR code for widescreen, but it gave me a black screen, the widescreen hack works just fine.
Setting “wideScreenHack” to True makes the game run in widescreen.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ★★★★☆
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GZLP01 (Europe)
Stutters here and there as you might expect, but performs very well.
Set “ForceTrueColor” to False as this game is one of the very few games optimized for the limited GameCube color palate, therefore looks better without the forced 24-bit colors. Also, set “EFBScaledCopy” to True, to fix the pixelated distant blur.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ★★★★☆
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GZ2P01 (Europe)
Stutters here and there as you might expect, but performs very well.
Add the following lines to your .INI file:

Code:

[OnFrame]
$Hyrule Field Speed Hack
0x8003d63c:dword:0x60000000
0x8003d658:dword:0x60000000
0x8003d670:dword:0x60000000
0x8003d68c:dword:0x60000000
0x8003d6e8:dword:0x60000000
0x8003d704:dword:0x60000000
0x8003d71c:dword:0x60000000
0x8003d738:dword:0x60000000
[OnFrame_Enabled]
$Hyrule Field Speed Hack

Set “SyncOnSkipIdle” to True to make the game work properly and “EFBScaledCopy” to True to fix many game effects (water, bloom and so on).

TimeSplitters 2 ★★★★☆
1-2 Players (Coop), up to 4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GTSP4F (Europe)
Works very well, but may get slow above 2 players.

Tube Slider ★★★☆☆
1-2 Player | Widescreen Hack
Tested with GTUE8G (USA)
Doesn’t keep up with the 60fps cap but the game stays full speed anyway, stutters quite often when going bellow 30fps but it remain playable.
Setting “wideScreenHack” to True makes the game run in widescreen.

Turok: Evolution ★★★★☆
1-4 Players | Stretched
Tested with GTKP51 (Europe)
Works very well, massive slowdowns from time to times.
You can set “wideScreenHack” to True for a real widescreen experience, but I noticed it made the game perform less well.

Viewtiful Joe ★★★★☆
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GVJP08 (Europe)
Very fast-paced game, so the slowdowns can be annoying but the game is playable. Video playback issues.
User @rclong says to set “Overclock” to 0.6, for me it was playable without it (maybe it helps with the NTSC version of the game).

Wario World ★★★★★
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GWWP01 (Europe)
Performs very well.

Wii

Show list (list is empty for now!):

This list is empty for now!

Not running well/Not working at all

Show list:

007: Everything or Nothing
1-2 Players (Coop), up to 4 Players | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GENF69 (France)
Good performance, but unable to save progress (nothing appears when reaching the save screen).

Auto Modelista
1-2 Players | 16:9 (AR Code)
Tested with GAUE08 (USA)
Really slow and stuttering.

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance
1-2 Players (Coop) | 16:9 (AR Code)
Tested with GDEF71 (France)
Good performance but crashes on inventory access.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
1 Player | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GQCF52 (France)
Crashes on startup.

Chibi-Robo!
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GGTP01 (Europe)
Too bad! It was nearly there! It is definitely playable but it’s too slow.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GYBP01 (Europe)
Too slow! Odd gameplay if you play with the Shield Controller. AR code comes from its Dolphin wiki page.

Eternal Darkness
1 Player | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GEDP01 (Europe)
Able to start new game but after the intro video, the game goes into a black screen with the music looping in background but you can’t get past it, no matter what you do. Too bad!

F-Zero GX
1-4 Players | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GFZP01 (Europe)
Too many bugs + really poor performance.

Geist
1-4 Players | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GITP01 (Europe)
Not so good performance + error message + game get stuck pretty quick.

Judge Dredd: Dredd vs Death
1-2 Players (Coop), up to 4 Players | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GJDY7D (Europe)
Really slow and no video playback.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.4 helps a lot but does not make it playable.

Medal of Honor: European Assault
1-4 Players | Widescreen Hack (+AR fix)
Tested with GONF69 (France)
Way too slow.
Enable “wideScreenHack” and add the Widescreen fix AR Code from the Dolphin Wiki page.

Medal of Honor: Frontline
1-4 Players | Stretched (but looks OK)
Tested with GMFF69 (France)
Framerate way too poor.

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
1-2 Player (Coop), up to 4 Players | Stretched (but looks OK)
Tested with GR8F69 (France)
Way too slow.

Metroid Prime
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GM8P01 (Europe)
Gameplay too slow.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
1-4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GM8P01 (Europe)
Gameplay too slow, many bugs.

Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
1 Player | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GWKP41 (Europe)
Framerate goes nuts and above 80+ fps, but the game stutters too much no matter what.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.5 helps a lot, but does not make it playable still.

Red Faction II
1-4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GRFF78 (France)
Awesome framerate but the game is flickering like crazy, therefore it is not playable.

Resident Evil
1 Player | Stretched
Tested with GBIP08 (Europe)
Crashes on startup.

Resident Evil Zero
1 Player | Stretched
Tested with GBZP08 (Europe)
Crashes on startup.

Skies of Arcadia Legends
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GEAP8P (Europe)
Crashes during intro cinematic.

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
1-2 Players | Widescreen Hack
Tested with GSNP8P (Europe)
Crashes on startup.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom
1 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GQPP78 (Europe)
Almost there, but way too slow in many areas.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.5 helps a little but that is not enough.

Star Fox: Assault
1-4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GF7P01 (Europe)
Crashes on startup.

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
1-4 Players | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GJKF52 (France)
Stutters a lot and quite slow.
Setting “Overclock” to 0.4 fixes audio and game speed but still too slow for me.

Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
1 Player | Widescreen Hack
Tested with GSWF64 (France)
Crazy slow with default settings, crashes on startup with my settings.

Teen Titans
1-4 Players | Stretched
Tested with G6TE5G (USA)
Performs really well but randomly crashes really quick.

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect
1 Player | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with G3FF69 (France)
Crashes on startup.

Ultimate Spider-Man
1 Player | 16:9 (Native)
Tested with GUTF52 (France)
Crashes on startup.

XIII
1-4 Player | 16:9 (AR code)
Tested with GX3X41 (Europe)
Almost there! But it’s not smooth enough to be qualified playable.

[DJBarry004]

You can´t have different performance between different IRs when your GPU isn´t the bottleneck.

[Toletheus]

Would you please tell me what version of the apk you are currently running?  I see in your settings template that you have Vulkan enabled, but when I do that with more recent builds, I get an issue where Vulkan won't initialize.  I can get it running under 5.0-6302, but newer releases don't seem to fire.

[JonnyH]

You can´t have different performance between different IRs when your GPU isn´t the bottleneck.

That's not strictly true - one of the issues with dolphin performance is that due to emulating specifics of the gamecube/wii hardware, there are more CPU->GPU synchronization points than a "well written" PC game. That can mean that it's more likely to get into situations where the CPU is waiting for the GPU (or visa-versa), and so affect performance even if the CPU or GPU has spare capacity.

Imagine a situation where a frame takes 10 ms on the CPU, then hands off to the GPU for 3ms of work. To reach 60fps, you need to be done in about 16ms. Most people would consider the CPU to be the "bottleneck" here, as it is what is taking the vast majority of the 16ms frame time - but it's all below 16ms so you still get a solid 60fps, despite the CPU being idle for 6ms of that, and the GPU idle for 13ms.

Now you double the IR - this causes a 4x increase in GPU load, and no increase of CPU load. Now the CPU takes 10ms, and the GPU takes 12ms - for a total of 22ms, missing the 16ms target for 60fps so has to drop to 30fps. Neither alone takes more than the 16ms frame time, and in a "well written" PC game they'll overlap as much as possible, and task manager shows that /neither/ is the bottleneck, as both are less than 50% utilisation (10ms of work in a 32ms frame for the CPU, and 12ms of work for the GPU).

[Moukrea]

You can´t have different performance between different IRs when your GPU isn´t the bottleneck.

That's more or less what I thought! As far as I tested, if a game wasn't running properly in 1080p, it wouldn't run properly in 480p either!

Would you please tell me what version of the apk you are currently running?  I see in your settings template that you have Vulkan enabled, but when I do that with more recent builds, I get an issue where Vulkan won't initialize.  I can get it running under 5.0-6302, but newer releases don't seem to fire.

I use the latest APK available, Vulkan doesn't want to initialize at first launch it's a well known issue! But it works actually. Went it displays the error message, just hit OK, use the back button on your gamepad to bring Dolphin menu and hit Exit (do not quit Dolphin app). Then, launch your game again and you'll be good to go!

@JonnyH thanks for the extended explanation, for sure the SHIELD isn't powerful enough but well... It's awesome to get some games working properly!

For the update, I added several games to the list

[rclong]

Games that work with default settings(Vulkan) at 100%-
GC -Wario World
Rampage Total Destruction
Crazy Taxi
Wave Race Blue Storm(PAL)
Marvel Nemesis
Batman Begins
Mario Kart DD(used codes for 25FPS and Widescreen Hack, PAL)(4 player)
Wii- Dragon Ball Z BT3
Metal Slug Anthology
WiiWare- Frogger Returns
Contra Rebirth(Dual core might be broken but works without it)

Games that work great at 60% OverClock-
GC-Soul Calibur 2 and Battle Stadium DON
Viewtiful Joe 1&2 and SSX3 works good but I can't remember if they're default or 60% overclock

I use widescreen hack or widescreen AR codes for all of these.
I also use AR unlock codes for levels and characters.

[feelix93]

Thanks a lot @Moukrea for doing this thread!

Have a NVIDIA Shield TV too and were always looking for good configs and a 'Playable Games' list.

Didn't know the '60Hz is more demanding' thing - will test this later.


If I can help you with testing something just let me know!

[Moukrea]

@feelix93 The 60Hz thing is not always true though! But the SHIELD struggles to hit the 60FPS cap served by the 60Hz versions of the games, having it running in 50Hz makes the FPS cap down to 50 max, which makes the SHIELD work a little less hard as it has 10 less frames to render! But in some cases, the 60Hz versions doesn't run at 60FPS like with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess that runs at 30FPS... However the 50Hz version of the game, if I'm correct, runs at 25FPS which is a little less, hence keeps making the SHIELD work less hard!

@rclong Thanks! I'll add them into the list!

[feelix93]

the 60Hz versions doesn't run at 60FPS like with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess that runs at 30FPS

So it doesn't really matter for Zelda Twilight Princess?
I didn't note any difference though.

[Moukrea]

@feelix93, I'm actually not sure the FPS cap differs between the 50Hz and 60Hz version of this game, gotta check it out!

Also, I updated the list with 87 games tested and 56 games stated as playable!
I also made a F-A-Q style guidelines in the first post to help users of all sorts (from newbie to confirmed) setting/tweaking up Dolphin on their SHIELD, it might also help other users too!

Sorry for the long time without update, I actually had a big problem with my adopted storage on the SHIELD so I pretty much lost everything in there...

If a moderator/admin come across this post, what happened to [color] support? It messed-up my entire post, and I've seen many other topic with [color] all over the place!