Unsure if Computer or Emulator

[QuotingLovecraft]

So, I haven't used Dolphin before, actually, the newest I've ever emulated is Dreamcast (which was a terrible experience, there doesn't seem to be a half-decent emulator for it). Anyway, I got really caught up in playing Skies of Arcadia again and the Dreamcast emulator failed me. Again. So, I got the port version for Gamecube and have been trying to run it. I've tried it with Skies of Arcadia Legends and Pokemon Gale of Darkness and neither work. I have set a frameskip to 3 to even increase speed a bit, but to no avail. I just keep getting a black screen, no audio, and it say's it's running at 27-31%. Is there a setting where I can increase speed somehow, or does my computer suck (which is what I'm thinking)?

Processor: AMD Athlon Dual Core Processor 4450e 2.30 GHz
RAM: 3.00 GB (2.73 GB usable)
System Type: 32-bit (Windows 7 Ultimate)

Thank you for your time. The reason I'm so confused is I can run Xbox 360 games just fine, but so I'm surprised I can't emulate Gamecube.

[admin89]

Your CPU is too slow

Quote:I can run Xbox 360 games just fine

what are you talking about ? Xbox360 emulator ? LOL

[QuotingLovecraft]

My bad. I feel stupid even mentioning it. I have the PC version of Xbox 360 games (Elder Scrolls: Oblivion), but I forgot that it's not a Xbox 360 game being emulated, but just a PC game.

[admin89]

PC gaming -> GPU power
Emulation -> CPU power
Don't ever compare them

[QuotingLovecraft]

Then I won't. Are the numbers I've provided about my computer helpful, or do I need to post different ones?

[admin89]

Check the wiki
Pokemon GoD requires Phenom II @ 3.2Ghz or Pentium G860 @ 3.0Ghz to run full speed
You must upgrade your CPU

[QuotingLovecraft]

Thank you for your help. Perhaps I should have done that first, anyway.

[Shonumi]

Just to let you know, frameskipping in Dolphin will not give you a speedup like in other emulators. You can read about it in this thread.

Also, the Skies of Arcadia port on Dolphin is a bit demanding if you want to properly play it. It needs to use Low Level Emulation (LLE) of the Gamecube's DSP, rather than High Level Emulation (HLE), in order to get any decent sound. LLE requires a fairly good processor, and preferably one with a third core (LLE processing can be done on it's own thread, making it faster).

You might be better off sticking with whatever Dreamcast emulator you were using. It probably has lower hardware requirements too. DC emulation just isn't quite so hot these days; there's only one decent native emulator here on Linux. For Windows, try NullDC, I heard it's pretty good.

[DanielTheSlide]

Try checking the wiki, look under "Configuration": http://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Skies_of_Arcadia_Legends
There's a few fixes for low frame rates, however, it seems support for this game is low. Only 2 people have reported it on the wiki, and both have only a few problems, although they are using systems more powerful than yours.

[Shonumi]

(06-14-2012, 12:01 PM)DanielTheSlide Wrote: Try checking the wiki, look under "Configuration": http://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Skies_of_Arcadia_Legends
There's a few fixes for low frame rates, however, it seems support for this game is low. Only 2 people have reported it on the wiki, and both have only a few problems, although they are using systems more powerful than yours.

I've been meaning to update the wiki with my experience since like, forever. :p Anyway, this game is very playable (with LLE audio of course), the only outstanding issue I can think of comes from the red shadows, but this is minor.

I guess I'll say it again; this game is somewhat demanding if you want to play it properly with LLE audio. Accurate VBeam emulation helps with LLE audio, but I haven't seen it actually "speedup" the game. Dolphin would probably offer the best experience with this game over DC emulators, but only if your computer is up to the task. I can run it fullspeed on my computer using stock clocks.