Long story made short - my current computer is not powerful enough to run Dolphin at HD, but I might be getting a new one soon. Like the title says, I am wondering if I should bother running games on the Dolphin at HD resolution (even if my new computer can support it) if I already have a Wii.
Graphics don't bother me a huge deal, but I would like to get the most out of my gaming experience that I can, especially if the game is Xenoblade (which I have put off playing for years because I wanted Nintendo to make a HD remake...) However, I've also read that as good as Dolphin emulation is, it will never compare with running the original (bugs, skipping and so forth) and even HD textures don't look THAT, well, HD.
What do you all think?
I can tell you that a game like Xenoblade Chronicles on Dolphin is wayyy better than playing it on the Wii. Not only does the HD resolution make a significant difference but also the texture pack adds content to it, and since you don't bother too much about the game graphicwise, its still is a whole completely new experience altogether once you go Dolphin, you can never go back to the Wii. If you haven't seen HD textures on that game I highly recommend it. And besides I doubt Nintendo would release this as an HD remake now that next Xenoblade Chronicles game is in the pipeline for the Wii U.
Pentium G3258 (69$) + any Z97 mobo + GTX 750 . Overclock the Pentium to 4.4GHz
95% of games will run full speed without lag . If you don't feel like running Xenoblade at 2560x2112 + antialiasing + High res texture is mind blowing to you , go back to your wii then
To be honest, native GC/Wii video output looks horribly blurry after playing in 1080p with AA- and then there's widescreen hacks, lighting/filtering improvements, savestates, fast-forwarding repetitive cutscenes, the ability to use different gamepads...
Few major games have noticeable, annoying bugs now. Skipping is rare or non-existent if your CPU is decently powerful.
So yes, it's definitely worth it.
(I don't usually bother with HD texture packs, actually. Most of them do change the aesthetic rather than just upping the resolution, and unless my taste happens to match the artist's, it's generally detrimental.)
Everytime I get a Wii game, I dump it and play it in Dolphin.
I always play it a little on the Wii just to get a feel for the game, but after an hour or so, I'm dumping and playing in HD!
I don't mind looking at native resolutions on my TV. I guess I'm able to look past it. However, I really love HD gameplay. It's just a more immersive gaming experience. It doesn't have to be anything over-the-top (Super Mario Galaxy in 4K + 9xSSAA + DolphinFX + Stereo 3D + HD Texture Packs) but even 3x IR on a 1080p monitor helps to draw me into the game. It's kind of disconcerting to see native resolutions on my desktop, where I feel I shouldn't be limited by the constraints of the original hardware.
I'll echo MaJoR's thoughts. If I happen to pick up a new GC/Wii game, it usually goes straight to Dolphin these days.
Alright, you've convinced me, I'll put off Wii games until I get my new computer.
I have a few other questions though :
1. Is all this stuff hard to set up? I remember trying to get Wii games to run HD on an older version of Dolphin and having some trouble with it. Maybe things are simpler now? I'm not too good at technical stuff, I ideally would like a "press this button to run in HD" kind of option, or failing that, maybe there is a guide somewhere?
2. Is there any way to transfer saves from your Wii to the PC? I have a modded Wii with Gecko OS, but I'm not sure how to go about it.
you can adjust the IR past 4x in the INI settings, but up to there, there is essentially a "press this button to run in HD" option in the graphics settings. for max settings the easy way, go into the graphics settings, and turn on 4x Internal Resolution, Anti-Aliasing, 16x Anisotropic and Per-Pixel-Lighting
Technically, only 3x native resolution is required for 1920x1080, and 2x native for 1368x720. 4x native on a 1920x1080 screen doesn't have any benefits over 3x native, but it's more demanding on the system.
oh, berabouman, you will be able to play much faster and with better settings if you use a build that isn't 2 years old (grab the latest dev)
although i'm curious, why did you get 3.5? not only is it old, it's on the lower part of the "stable builds" list