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Progress Continues
We've already had 21606 updates since Dolphin 5.0. Keep up with Dolphin's continuing progress through the Dolphin Blog: February, March, and April 2024 Dolphin Progress Report. |
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Dolphin Manual: Difference between revisions
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(WORK. IN. PROGRESS. I haven't even finished porting yet. I adjust as I port, so more will be added with time.) |
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*2GB of Ram | *2GB of Ram | ||
Satisfying these requirements does not necessarily mean Dolphin will run smoothly. The nature of emulation is that some games are more demanding than others. “Light” | Satisfying these requirements does not necessarily mean Dolphin will run smoothly. The nature of emulation is that some games are more demanding than others. “Light” games do not take much power to run, for example [[Crazy Taxi]]. “Demanding” games need a very strong machine that may have to be overclocked, for example [[The Last Story]] or [[Metroid Prime (GC)|Metroid Prime]]. Consequently, [[GameCube]] games are not necessarily any easier to run than [[Wii]] games. | ||
Users should ask questions about their hardware on the [http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/ Dolphin forums] or check the [[Main Page|Dolphin Wiki]] to see the results other systems had for specific games. | Users should ask questions about their hardware on the [http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/ Dolphin forums] or check the [[Main Page|Dolphin Wiki]] to see the results other systems had for specific games. | ||
=== Additional Software === | === Additional Software === | ||
Windows users must install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable (SP1) and the [http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35 DirectX End-User Runtime]. The Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable comes in [http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8328 32-bit] and [http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13523 64-bit] versions; choose according to your operating system. Generally for any OS, keeping drivers up-to-date is the best practice. Linux users have more extensive software requirements (see Section 2.1). | Windows users must install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable (SP1) and the [http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35 DirectX End-User Runtime]. The Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable comes in [http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8328 32-bit] and [http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13523 64-bit] versions; choose according to your operating system. Generally for any OS, keeping drivers up-to-date is the best practice. | ||
Linux users have more extensive software requirements (see Section 2.1). | |||
=== Games === | === Games === | ||
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== Obtaining the Dolphin Emulator == | == Obtaining the Dolphin Emulator == | ||
For users of Windows, OS X, and Ubuntu, the main Dolphin website provides both the latest builds and the last stable release online at [http://www.dolphin-emu.org/download http://www.dolphin-emu.org/download] | For users of Windows, OS X, and Ubuntu, the main Dolphin website provides both the latest builds and the last stable release online at [http://www.dolphin-emu.org/download http://www.dolphin-emu.org/download]. Windows users must choose between x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) versions according to their operating system. | ||
Please note that the developmental versions of Dolphin represent the very latest work added to the emulator. Every time a developer commits changes to Dolphin, a build-bot automatically compiles the source code. While these versions provide the most recent improvements, they may not always be stable. | Please note that the developmental versions of Dolphin represent the very latest work added to the emulator. Every time a developer commits changes to Dolphin, a build-bot automatically compiles the source code. While these versions provide the most recent improvements, they may not always be stable. | ||
Non-Ubuntu Linux users have to compile the source code themselves or rely on the repositories set up for their specific distros in order to obtain Dolphin. See [[Building Dolphin on Linux]] for instructions. | Non-Ubuntu Linux users have to compile the source code themselves or rely on the repositories set up for their specific distros in order to obtain Dolphin. See [[Building Dolphin on Linux]] for instructions. | ||
== Starting Dolphin == | |||
'''Windows:''' Windows builds come in archives in the 7z format, so an appropriate program such as [http://www.7-zip.org 7-zip] or [http://peazip.sourceforge.net PeaZip] is necessary to extract it. Users need only extract the archive and double-click on the Dolphin.exe file to launch the emulator. Opening the emulator while it is in the archive will lead to errors. | |||
'''OS X:''' All OS X builds come as .dmg files for easy installation: users need only double-click the .dmg file to open it, and click on the Dolphin icon to launch it. Drag the Dolphin icon to the Applications folder to install in on the system. | |||
'''Linux:''' After compiling and installing Dolphin, Linux users will need to see where Dolphin placed itself depending on the desktop environment and launch it from the correct menu. Alternatively, Dolphin will run when invoking the dolphin-emu command from a terminal. | |||
Below is a screenshot of what Dolphin looks like when run (after adding some games, see Section 2.3) and a basic description of the interface: | |||
BIG PICTURE HEEEEEERE | |||
'''Title Bar:''' Shows program name and Dolphin version. | |||
'''Menus:''' Contains entries like File, Emulation, and Options. Provide access to nearly all of Dolphin's options through drop-down menus. | |||
'''Toolbars:''' Contains buttons like Open, Play, and Config. Provide quick access to commonly changed options with one-click | |||
'''Banners:''' Small graphical icons depicting game logos. Allows users to easily identify games at a glance. Small graphics to the left show which system the game comes from. | |||
'''Title:''' The official name of the game. | |||
'''Notes:''' Short pieces of text that may describe the game or the developer. Flags to the right show which region (NTSC-U, NTSC-J, PAL) the game comes from. | |||
'''Size:''' Approximate size of the game file. | |||
'''State:''' A scale using 5 stars that describes how well the game runs in Dolphin. The scale goes as follows: | |||
:0: Unknown – Has not been tested yet. | |||
:1: Broken – Crashes when booting. | |||
:2: Intro/Menu – Hangs/crashes somewhere between booting and starting. | |||
:3: Starts – Starts, maybe even plays well, but crashes or major graphical/audio glitches. | |||
:4: Playable – Runs well, only minor graphical or audio glitches. Games can be played all the way through | |||
:5: Perfect – No issues at all. | |||
'''Status Bar:''' Very bottom of Dolphin's screen, reserved for small message such as when a real or emulated Wiimote has been connected, FPS, VPS, and game speed. | |||