Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

UPDATE: Background glitch fixed in newest revisions!

Spoiler pictures in this thread. There are pictures and discussions of areas in the game you might not want to see if you have not played the game yet.





About the game:

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is an action-adventure game for the Wii console and the sixteenth entry in the Legend of Zelda series. A prequel to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the game makes use of the Wii MotionPlus peripheral for sword-fighting, with a revised Wii Remote pointing system used for targeting. The game is currently sold as both a bundle with a golden Wii Remote Plus and as a standalone game, and includes a CD containing orchestrated tracks of iconic music from the franchise.

Controller discussion here: http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/showthread.php?tid=20110

Wii Motion+ emulation discussion here: http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/showthread.php?tid=20167
(Warning: still not perfect, read the whole thread for answers.)

Emulation Status / Speed


Best revision: Latest Git builds. 3.0-xxx

Best settings:

Everything default, except:

- Prefered graphics plugin: DirectX 11
- AA method should be done only by using higher internal resolutions. AA "standard" settings causes glitches.
- AF should be set to 2X or higher to reduce/eliminate color banding
- Disable "Skip EFB Access from CPU" to fix the pointer accuracy
- Disable "External Frame Buffer"
- Disable "Cache Display Lists"
- EFB Copies should be enabled only with the "Virtual" checkbox.

Everything else (audio settings, advanced graphical options) are a matter of personal choice and won't make much difference, so if possible, stick with the above.

FAQ: (thanks to ninjin)

Misaligned pointer for slingshot pellets, arrows, etc
Disable "Skip EFB Access from CPU" to fix. Reduces performance.

I have a Wiimote but not a Motion+, can I play the game?
Check this thread: http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/showthread.php?tid=20167

Large blocky shadows around Link / floor?
Looks like a problem with the DX9 plugin, using the DX11 plugin fixes this. Using a newer revision may also fix this but doing so yields more disadvantages.

Link's sword is invisible
Disable "Cache Display Lists".

The background (depth of field) is all corrupted, blocky and/or jagged looking
This is a known problem with any Dolphin builds after r7719 and before 3.0-223. If you're affected, either use a build which is not in that range or enable "EFB Texture to RAM" (causes slowdowns).

Do I need a sensor bar, since the game is using the Motion+ gyros for motion tracking?
Although not needed, it's recommended as the sensor bar tells the Wiimote which direction is forward so that it can correctly correlate hand movements with sword swings. In other words, it serves as a "real time calibration". Without it, keeping the Motion+ calibration is way harder.

Screenshots

I'll just leave this here so people know that the thread is okay and so that no one comes along and closes it. The game was bought and paid for and was released to many people early, that's on the stores, not the people who bought the game.

Those screenshots look beautiful...
Can somebody help me. If I buy the game with the Motion Plus controller and a Bluetooth dongle, what else, hardware wise, do I need to play the game?

........waiting impatiently for the game in my region

those are some awesome screen shots! I would love to play it in HD

I'm getting some stuttering in the intro, is there a way to fix this?

I know the game has to run at 30 fps in order to not stutter in videos, but it isn't, and it's just a fmv...

The actual game runs perfectly. But I noticed on your screens that you have no background filter, how did you get rid of it? looks clean and nice.

When I finally get the game from the shop, I will play it on my Wii. Though, as many other people, I really would like to see a motion plus -> 360 pad implementation, where you can also map the sword swings to buttons. This is probably hell of work and will not come so soon.

Can't believe I'm actually more excited playing this in Dolphin then on the Wii.
Those screens look awesome and crystal crisp clean. Just a few more days.....ghaaaaaaa

felipaopl, please, post your specs and screens of current settings! Don't you have some shadows/light issue in game?

To avoid shadows problems, don't select "auto" in internal resolution