Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

You know, I have found here in the forums lots of people having problems with GC/Wii. That´s why I created this thread. It´s kind of a guide that will help people here with mid-level computers to play Dolphin properly, with the lowest number of problems as possible.

Notes before beginning:
1-Since I don´t play Wii games, I will go ONLY on the GC side.
2-If you have any problem, post your PC/laptop characteristics (CPU, GPU, Motherboard, RAM type and amount, HDD size, Dolphin version, current CPU temp); among other things.
3-Both noobs and experts posts are permitted (mainly the noobs´ ones, but experts can help).

These are the GC games I have:

Luigi´s Mansion (PAL)
Mario Kart: Double Dash! (NTSC-U)
Super Mario Sunshine (PAL)
Mario Party 4,5 and 6 (NTSC-U).

I will use Dolphin 2.0 and 3.0-557 for the explanation. Also here are my specs:

CPU: Intel ® Pentium Dual-Core CPU E2180 @1.60 GHz (stock), 2.23 GHz(O.C.).
GPU: Intel ® 82945G Express Chipset Family, 224 MB DVMT.
RAM: 768 MB SDRAM + 4200 MB system pagination file.
HDD: Maxtor 4R120L0 120 GB + MD7500-BQDW-RO USB Drive 700 GB.
Motherboard: Micro-Star International MS-7507 (Intel 945GCM7-L).

Now let´s start. First, the game configurations that work well for me in Dolphin 2.0 (you can give me some opinions about these; and try them too):

1- Luigi´s Mansion (game properties):
Enable Dual Core
Enable Idle Skipping
TLB hack
Disable Copy to EFB
Enable EFB to Texture
Distance Alpha Pass
Use XFB
The other things are disabled.

2-Mario Kart: Double Dash!:
Almost the same as the other one, but with Distance Alpha Pass disabled.

3-Mario Party 4, 5 and 6:
Same thing, but with FIFO BP hack enabled.

4-Super Mario Sunshine:
Same thing, the options must be like the first two games.

Images are here:

[attachment=9572]




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The first part of the guide ends here. Check my next post to see the following part.

olverfrancisco Wrote:Disable Copy to EFB

This will break or cause major visual issues in most games.

olverfrancisco Wrote:Use XFB

This causes more harm than good in most games.

Using dolphin 2.0 will also cause serious issues with many games. And many games won't run at all. You'll get lucky with some of the older and more popular titles such as those you have listed here.

(08-01-2013, 05:38 PM)NaturalViolence Wrote: [ -> ]

olverfrancisco Wrote:Disable Copy to EFB

This will break or cause major visual issues in most games.

olverfrancisco Wrote:Use XFB

This causes more harm than good in most games.

Using dolphin 2.0 will also cause serious issues with many games. And many games won't run at all. You'll get lucky with some of the older and more popular titles such as those you have listed here.

Maybe you are right with the XFB thing, but I use that option and works well with me (Luigi´s Mansion is a good example. In this case helps me with adding a little speed).

By the way, do you know a good program to take screenshots for any purpose? I want to include images in the guide so I can explain better in it.

... aaaaaand marked unofficial.


Also, note that if enabling XFB emulation speeds up stuff for you, you're doing something REALLY wrong.

Oh man, forgot to say this: the speed-up happens usually in the 3.0 version I have. In 2.0 it´s a mess.

It still shouldn't be happening. Turning on XFB should either decrease performance or have no effect on performance. You're adding more code to process so it couldn't possibly improve performance no matter what revision you're using.

oliverfrancisco Wrote:By the way, do you know a good program to take screenshots for any purpose? I want to include images in the guide so I can explain better in it.

If you're taking screenshots of a game use a screencap application like fraps or dxtory. If you're taking screenshots of the GUI just use print screen.

(Sh*t man, in what things am I thinking??) The XFB does not speed-up, it makes the emulation a bit more stable in my system. (I beg your pardon because of using wrong words, I wasn´t fiiguring out the mistake until now).

Okay, now off to the Dolphin 2.0 emulator configs; but before going to that I´d like to answer a question that maybe some of you are about to ask: How can you tell anyone that PC is low-level or mid-level? Simple. First, look at my specs. (The physic RAM amount and the GPU are terrible, isn´t it?) Well, if your PC is similar or worst than mine you can either say you have mid-level PC or low-level PC.

The configs:

Note: The configs that you watched at the top are the GAME CONFIGS, not the emulator ones.

1-General Configs:
Enable Dual Core.
Enable Idle Skipping.
Enable Cheats (optional).
Use Panic Handlers.
HLE the IPL.
JIT recompiler.

The other things will be modified by you.

I will finish the Dolphin 2.0 part of the guide right here since it´s a very old version full of issues. I´ll continue with 3.0-557 instead.

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Dolphin 2.0 guide ends here definitely. 3.0-557 config guide will start soon.

Quote:Well, if your PC is similar or worst than mine you can either say you have mid-level PC or low-level PC.

No offense but that's way beyond the low level and not recommend to run Dolphin at all
By today standard , my laptop is low-mid range PC
A low-end CPU is something similar to Pentium Ivy Bridge G2010 @ 2.8GHz
A mid range CPU is something similar to A10 6800k @ 4.1GHz (4.4GHz turbo core)

His hardware was considered low end in 2007 when it was released as a low budget product. By today's standards it's well below abysmal. Even the worst hardware in a modern PC, hardware that would and should be considered low end, is tremendously faster.