[tutorial]Installation of Dolphins emulator GC/WII

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sherka
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[tutorial]Installation of Dolphins emulator GC/WII

Post by sherka »

Automatically translated from French.

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we're going to take a look at a really handy piece of software that will let you have a virtual Wii or GameCube on your PC (note that this tutorial is aimed at Microsoft Windows users only)

I) Dolphin, a bit of history
You should know that the Dolphin emulator was originally made specifically for the GameCube, development was fairly slow, but it was still decent for an emulator, though there were quite a few issues. But thanks to technological and computing advances and the arrival of the Wii, it turned out that emulating the Wii with this tool was possible. The programmers really put in double the effort to improve their software. You should also know that it's open-source, so you can contribute to its development. And did you know that Dolphin was the code name of the Nintendo GameCube during its development period...

II) Installing the emulator
Before anything else, Papi Yami wants to share his opinion on choosing a suitable release for Brawl, because let's not forget we're here for this game. Personally, revision 4984 seems to be the best version, with almost no emulation issues, and very stable. Here's a link to download it: 32-bit /64-bit

Once downloaded (only take one of the two links, depending on your OS), and extracted, you'll end up with a new folder with everything you need inside. Open Dolphin.exe.

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Buttons:
Open: Open a ROM, ISO, GCM
Refresh: Refresh the game list
Browser: Search for the folder containing your game backups

Play: Launch the selected game
Stop: Stop the game
FullScreen: Display the game in fullscreen
Screenshot: Take a screenshot of the game

Config: Among other things, lets you configure your emulator, choose plug-ins, etc...
Graphics: Change your graphics plug-in settings
DSP: Change your sound plug-in settings
GC Pad: Configure your controller, keyboard, etc...
Wiimote: Configure your WiiMote, keyboard, etc...


These little buttons also act as shortcuts so you don't have to dig through the menu (File, Emulation, etc...). And now let's move on to the most interesting step, configuration, oh yes!


These little buttons also act as shortcuts so you don't have to dig through the menu (File, Emulation, etc...). And now let's move on to the most interesting step, configuration, oh yes!


III) Configuring the plug-ins

1) "Config" button

We're going to move on to a fairly essential step for recording your replays, but first of all, for launching the game at normal speed. Please follow my instructions along with the images I'll provide.
Let's start by clicking on "Config". We end up on a small window, this is where you manage the emulator, choose plug-ins, etc...
We have five tabs:
- General
- GameCube
- Wii
- Paths (this tab lists the various folders where your ISOs are logically located, not needed for this section)
- Plug-ins

I'll show you images of the various tabs. Please check/uncheck the boxes and change the options according to your PC's configuration, using the images as a guide.
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When you install the emulator, the graphics plug-in chosen by default is Open GL, a very powerful plug-in.
But to capture videos, we're going to choose the Direct3D9 plug-in instead, less powerful but more than sufficient.
Note: It's possible this plug-in won't be found in Dolphin. This means it's not installed on your computer. Click here to download DirectX and install it.

2) "Graphics" button

The Wii is currently the only non-HD console, and also the best-selling one. Some would have liked Nintendo to make a bit of an effort for the eyes of those who have an HD screen, rather than selling scales to make girls jiggle around (don't tell me it's good for the eyes, thanks).
As with the above, it's all a matter of selection, so here are new images to follow to the letter.
You don't have to choose such a high resolution, but for 720p, it's unavoidable
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There you go, the graphics plug-in configuration is done.
Let's not touch the sound plug-in, DSP, the default configuration is already very good.
For the Pad configuration, it's either the keyboard, or the alternative solution with a GameCube adapter. See the section devoted to that further down in the tutorial.
Configuring the WiiMote isn't necessary, we won't dwell on that.

3) Why "Direct3D" and not "Open GL"?


Since this question is simply unavoidable, we might as well describe the reasons for this particular choice in advance.
The choice of a plug-in has a strong effect on the framerate of a game launched by Dolphin, as well as on the stability of the emulator. Here are a few differences I've noticed, comparing the two plug-ins.

- Dolphin OpenGL: No aliasing and no graphical issues to report (it all depends on its configuration and the power of your graphics card), however, slowdowns or freezes are noticeable during gameplay, which can be destabilizing. High chance of a framerate drop. Open GL is more likely to crash the emulator.
To use with FRAPS?: No

- Dolphin Direct3D9: Slight aliasing, which you can make out, but not at all bothersome, slowdowns and freezes much less frequent than with OpenGL, and smoother overall. Low chance of a framerate drop. The risk of crashing is minimal.
To use with FRAPS?: Yes

Note that I'm basing this assessment on my own computer. The results may not be the same on another machine.

IV) Do Ocarina codes work?

To answer simply, I'd say yes and no. But don't worry, the codes we're interested in (no-tripping, tags in replays, infinite replay) work perfectly, so it won't be an issue for your replays.
The codes won't be added to your game by default, so we're going to install them ourselves, as you'd expect.
On your game list, right-click on the game you're interested in (Brawl here), and click on "Properties". You'll end up on this window.
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Click on the "AR Codes" tab, this is where we're going to enter our famous codes, there might already be some pre-defined codes there, but surely not ours ^^". To enter a new code, click on Add at the bottom of the window, a new small window will pop up. You'll need to enter a name as well as the string of numbers we all know. And click OK.
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There you go, the code has now been added to the list. All that's left is to activate it by checking the little box next to your brand new code ^^ (if you want to disable it, just uncheck the box).
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V) My replays on Dolphin!?

1) SD to SD? Not possible!


Before disappointing you, there is indeed a solution to be able to read your replays on Dolphin, and it must be the only one, not only is it the only one (for now?! Who knows...) but it's quite a hassle.
Anyway, let's explain the problem for SD support, where your replays are located in a folder called "rp".



"The emulator doesn't detect SD cards plugged into your computer, so it's impossible to read the contents.
Instead, the developers created a feature for Dolphin to be able to create a virtual SD card ("sd.raw").
With WinImage, software that lets you generate virtual SDs, we can look at the contents of it, it has exactly the same structure as an SD card plugged into a Wii, with the same folders. You can transfer files. I tried transferring my replays (in my opinion, that would have been the first obvious thing to do), successfully, thanks to WinImage.
After the operation, I check my Brawl replays, they're there but... corrupted, so unreadable.
I tried to find a solution, but it seems that it's impossible, well, there's still one single method left."

I would have sworn that this method would be the simplest to apply, but it took a blunder on the part of Dolphin's developers to deprive us of this major advantage, but hey, let's not despair, maybe a solution will be found to make use of the SD card.
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Anyway, let's get to the only solution that currently exists, which I still find quite convoluted.

2) Transferring the save - The only solution


Note, I'm assuming that your Wii is jailbroken, meaning it allows the installation of channels not certified by Nintendo (HomeBrew Channel, etc...) and that you're into WAD applications. If that's not the case, give up on this path and go home to hack your console.

Given the title, I assume you've figured out where I'm going with this. The one and only solution is indeed to transfer your save to Dolphin. So how do you go about it!?
First of all, make sure all your replays are on your Super Smash Bros. Brawl save file, so transfer your matches from the SD card to the Wii's internal memory, if that hasn't been done yet.

Once that's done, we're going to use an application called "SaveGame Manager" by Waninkoko, which will let us transfer game saves onto our SD card. Because let's remember, Brawl is a game that lets you play on the CWF, so it's impossible for us to copy our save to an SD card through the Wii's options.
Download the application here and extract it into the Apps folder of your SD card.
STOP! Waninkoko's cIOS rev 14 (or a higher version) is required for the homebrew to work.


Additional mini-tutorial: Using SaveGame Manager

SaveGame Manager is a very simple utility to use. But it's still good to have a little illustrated tutorial to avoid any issues.
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Once launched via the HomeBrew Channel, you'll be on the main menu. This utility is also used to install Wii game saves, so it's quite handy. But in our case, we're going to extract, so select "Extract Mode" and press A.
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Choose the destination for your save, it's best to choose your SD card ("Wii SD Slot"). When the save is extracted, it will end up in the "Savegames" folder, at the root of your SD card.
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The list of your Wii's saves will be displayed, look for the game you want and press the A button to move on to the last step.
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All you have to do now is press A to confirm, and the extraction begins. Since we're talking about Brawl, the extraction will take a bit of time, the save weighs 15.9 MB after all. ^^
Once extraction is complete, a message will let you know the operation was successful, you can exit the homebrew.
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Back on your PC, go to the "Savegames" folder on your SD card. Normally, there should be one (or several) folder(s) containing your save. It will have a rather strange-looking code as its name. This code corresponds to the game (let's say it's its ID number ^^). Of course, the code differs by region. Here are the different folders for Super Smash Bros. Brawl for example, that you might come across:
- 0001000052534250: PAL
- 0001000052534245: NTSC-US
- 000100005253424a: NTSC-JP
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The last step is coming up, we're now going to integrate this save into Dolphin, don't worry, this step is very easy, it's just copy/paste, well, with one exception.
I'll assume that you're using Dolphin for the first time. If you have your Brawl backup, launch the game via Dolphin, and create a new save, that will save us quite a few complications. ^^
Once that's done, close Dolphin, and go to Dolphin's main folder.
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We're going to look for the folder where saves are listed:
=> .../Dolphin Folder/User/Wii/title

There you go, this is where all our saves are located.
"Strangely, there are several folders, but there's one folder named 000100000, is that normal, because we saw similar numbers above corresponding to the ID numbers of the folders?"
Yes, in truth, several games start with the ID code "00010000", Brawl isn't the only exception. Only the last 8 digits allow you to tell the games apart.
But recently, the latest released games can start with the code "00010004xxxxxxxx"...

Anyway, let's move on and get to the point. Open the "00010000" folder, normally, there should be only one folder inside. It will have 8 digits, the last 8 digits of the game's ID. In our case, we're talking about Brawl, and of course, it differs by region:
- 52534250: PAL
- 52534245: NTSC-US
- 5253424a: NTSC-JP
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Open the relevant folder, as well as the next one inside it ("data"). You'll end up with a "no copy" folder, which we won't need, as well as several files:
- PAL and NTSC-JP: 9 files
- NTSC-US: 12 files
These files represent the game's save. We're going to delete these files (do not delete the "no copy" folder), and on your SD card/savegames, grab the files located in the "0001000005253424x" folder and paste them into the "5253424x/data/" folder where we deleted the files. (You can also overwrite the files)
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There you go, we're done, check that the installed save works properly on Dolphin, and normally all your replays will be in the corresponding section of the game.

/!\ But this procedure isn't without its issues.
As good news always comes with bad news, we won't escape the rule.
Indeed, replays transferred this way can have some unfortunate desync issues on Dolphin.
Don't forget you need to activate no-tripping on Dolphin if the match was subject to the code.


VI) Optional: GameCube Controller Adapter, personal opinion and advice
1) The miracle adapter


Tired of playing with the keyboard? I understand, playing Brawl on your emulator with a good GameCube controller is much more comfortable. So, what you need is a USB adapter that lets you connect a GC controller to a computer. All I can recommend to you
is this little product that you can find for around 9€ on Amazon:
[tuto]Installation de Dolpnins émulateur GC/WII
Once you have it, plug it into a USB port, the computer will recognize the device without any issue and install it. Once installed, plug in a controller and go configure the emulator yourself by clicking on the GC Pad button, and assign the buttons.
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Re: [tutorial]Installation of Dolphins emulator GC/WII

Post by Oops »

Automatically translated from French.

I can hardly imagine testing that on my old PIII 1Ghz 512mo ram :roll: :98:

Anyway... your tuto looks really complete. Thanks for this work and for sharing. :74: :accord:
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sherka
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Re: [tutorial]Installation of Dolphins emulator GC/WII

Post by sherka »

Automatically translated from French.

hi,

thanks but if changes need to be made I'll do them
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Re: [tutorial]Installation of Dolphins emulator GC/WII

Post by darkscad »

Automatically translated from French.

Congratulations on your tutorial.
:accord:
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sherka
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Re: [tutorial]Installation of Dolphins emulator GC/WII

Post by sherka »

Automatically translated from French.

thanks but given the quality around here it :bravo: was mandatory
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Re: [tutorial]Installation of Dolphins emulator GC/WII

Post by actarus1973 »

Automatically translated from French.

Good tuto!!

Thanks :74:
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Re: [tutorial]Installation of Dolphins emulator GC/WII

Post by touctouc22 »

Automatically translated from French.

The plugins for the controllers don't show up I don't have anything showing up is that normal?
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sherka
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Re: [tutorial]Installation of Dolphins emulator GC/WII

Post by sherka »

Automatically translated from French.

touctouc22 wrote:The plugins for the controllers don't show up I don't have anything showing up is that normal?
did you choose the right 32/64 bit version?

what's your pc operating system?
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Re: [tutorial]Installation of Dolphins emulator GC/WII

Post by mee2pain »

Automatically translated from French.

Hello, I installed dolphin and I'd like to play bleach with keyboard and mouse but unfortunately I can't manage it (guess that's what being a .... in english means ^^) and when I start a fight I get a message on screen (in jap so it's even worse) :s
Could you send me a profile or a screen of a keyboard mouse config please?

thanks in advance and sorry for bumping the topic ^^
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Re: [tutorial]Installation of Dolphins emulator GC/WII

Post by Jiiwah »

Automatically translated from French.

Very nice tuto :accord:

Could you add the emulation of the system menu??
This side of Dolphin is pretty nice too.

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