Metroid Prime (Metroid Prime: Trilogy)

Metroid Prime
Developer(s)	Retro Studios
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	Metroid, Metroid Prime
Platform(s)	Wii
Release date(s)	Original release NA November 17, 2002 JP February 28, 2003 EU March 21, 2003 AUS April 3, 2003 Metroid Prime: Trilogy NA August 24, 2009 EU September 4, 2009 AUS October 15, 2009
Genre(s)	First-person action-adventure, First-person shooter, Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player
Input methods	Wii Remote + Nunchuk
Compatibility	4 Playable
See also...	GameCube Version Wii Version Dolphin Forum thread Open Issues Search Google Search Wikipedia

Metroid Prime: Trilogy is an action-adventure video game compilation developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. It features Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on a single dual-layer disc.

Metroid Prime in Trilogy has been updated with many features from Metroid Prime 3, such as its aiming system, bloom rendering, 16:9 aspect ratio, and reduced difficulty level (to play the original difficulty, play "veteran" instead of normal). The update also has higher resolution textures, and uses Trilogy's menus, save system, achievements, and unlockable soundtracks.

Game Pages

This page should be used for specific issues with the Metroid Prime sub-game of Metroid Prime: Trilogy. For other Metroid Prime: Trilogy games or launcher information, please see the following pages.

Emulation Information

Constant Wii Remote Disconnects

When using the MS Bluetooth Stack (the default Bluetooth stack on Windows) the game will think that the Wii Remote is constantly disconnecting. Pressing a button on the Wii Remote will restore it, but it will disconnect again seconds later. Disable Enable Speaker Data to remedy this problem. It's a problem bound to PC hardware and driver, you can also try Bluetooth Passthrough, or follow this Wii Remote -TR Connection Guide anyhow to avoid the MS Bluetooth stack. DolphinBar is another viable solution for this problem.

Shader Compilation Stuttering

Metroid Prime (Metroid Prime: Trilogy) is one of the most susceptible titles to shader compilation stuttering. The GC and Wii have no concept of shaders - everything is executed directly by the hardware without an intermediate programming language (API). Modern computers and mobile systems do not work in this way, requiring the use of shaders as an intermediary so your system's GPU can perform the tasks that the GC and Wii GPU performed directly. Shaders have to be generated though, and since GC/Wii games are not designed to create shaders ahead of time as a PC game would, when a new effect appears Dolphin has to delay the CPU thread while the GPU thread performs the compilation; a pause that does not exist on the consoles. For most games shader generation takes only a few milliseconds, but for a few demanding titles, the shaders that they generate are so large that they can result in noticeable stuttering, in severe cases pauses of over a second may occur.

Since 5.0-4869, this problem can be solved by enabling ubershaders. Changing GPU, updating GPU drivers, or updating Dolphin may invalidate the shader cache, requiring specialized shaders to be compiled again. Since 5.0-6461, Dolphin caches shader pipeline UIDs independently of the video backend and compiles them on game start. This allows cached shaders to work across different video backends, platforms, hardware configurations and even Dolphin versions as long as changes aren't made to Dolphin's actual shader pipeline. These shaders are compiled in the background when the game starts, which may cause stuttering for a short period. Enable Compile Shaders Before Starting to avoid this.

Problems

The Black Bar

During Shader Compilation, stuttering can become so severe that it desyncs the GPU and CPU threads in Dual Core mode. The game freaks out over this desync, creating a black bar at the bottom of the screen, which takes up 15% of the screen space and "squishes" the game in the remaining space. The black bar will remain there from then on whether stuttering continues or ceases.

After 4.0-7517, enabling Virtual XFB or Real XFB will fix and/or prevent the problem. If XFB is disabled the problem may still occur. Details can be found in the September Progress Report. Fixed with Hybrid XFB in 5.0-5874.

Correct emulation

Black bar and squishing

As for version 5.0, to remove the black bar simply go to Configuration, Wii tab, and uncheck "Use PAL60 Mode (EuRGB60)"

Enhancements

Bloom Offset in IR>1

Like Prime 3 and all the Trilogy games, Prime 1 Trilogy has bloom offset problems when playing above 1x Native internal resolution. Fortunately, it is not very noticeable with this game. The only solution is to disable Scaled EFB copies, which creates issues of its own. See issue 5573.

Example of the bloom offset

Visual Artifacts with Anti-Aliasing

When Anti-Aliasing SSAA or MSAA of x8 level is set, weird glowing appears on the bottom and right edges of the screen, to fix this select an Anti-Aliasing level of x4 or lower.

Glowing on the edges

Dot in IR>1

When playing above 1x Native internal resolution, there is a dot in the very center of the screen. It's small and easy to ignore, but it's always there. This problem did not appear in the original game Metroid Prime for GameCube. It can be hidden along with the helmet and visor display in the game's options.

Another workaround for this problem is to put these custom textures into the Dolphin Emulator\Load\Textures folder and enabling the Load Custom Textures option in the advanced graphics settings.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/559645428451246090/802436195375382538/Dot_Fix.zip

The dot, zoomed in 8x

HD Textures

Metroid Prime Trilogy - HD Interface Textures. This texture pack works with the Trilogy and the standalone GameCube/Wii titles.

Configuration

Only configuration options for the best compatibility where they deviate from defaults are listed.

Wii Remote

Config	Setting	Notes
Enable Speaker Data	Off	Prevents constant Wii Remote disconnects

Version Compatibility

The graph below charts the compatibility with Metroid Prime since Dolphin's 2.0 release, listing revisions only where a compatibility change occurred.

r7689

5.0-4869

Δ

5.0-20519 (current)

Δ

Δ

Δ

Δ

Δ

2.0 (r5384)

Compatibility can be assumed to align with the indicated revisions. However, compatibility may extend to prior revisions or compatibility gaps may exist within ranges indicated as compatible due to limited testing. Please update as appropriate.

Testing

This title has been tested on the environments listed below:

Test Entries
Revision	OS	CPU	GPU	Result	Tester
r7689	Windows 7	Intel Core i5-2500K @ 4.4 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250	Close to perfect -> constant 60FPS, 1280x720, 3xNative textures and DSP-HLE sound (still must use dol swap though)	Zlutz
r7714	Windows 7	AMD Phenom II X4 980 @ 4.2 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT	DX9, 1.5x Resolution, 4x SSAA, 8x AF runs at 90-100%. HLE works with little to no issues. Use Accurate VBeam Emulation for a nice speedup. Very well emulated in current versions. MUST use dol swap to get working.	Keller999
3.0-694	Windows 7	AMD Phenom II X6 1090T @ 3.2 GHz	AMD Radeon HD 6870	For any Resolution up to 2.5x, any AA up to max, any AF up to 8x: With EFB->Texture, runs at ~30-45FPS. With EFB->RAM, runs at ~7-10FPS. EFB->RAM needed for X-Ray Visor, otherwise it's just a white screen. Thermal Visor works fine with EFB->Texture. No other settings seem to have any real effect on the framerate, although enabling Accurate VBeam Emulation in the properties does provide a speedup on the map screen, from ~10FPS OGL and ~20FPS DX9/11 to ~45FPS with any settings. (x64 Release, git master rev bfde41895f52 + ES_LAUNCH rev 52def7cebd32, compiled w/ MS VS 2010.)	eyeonus
3.0-766	Windows 7	Intel Core i7-3770K @ 4.4 GHz	AMD Radeon HD 6970	DX11 at 1900x1200 (using internal resolution auto, 4xAA), game completed averaging 50-60FPS, except for areas where X-Ray visor is required: EFB>RAM must be used, decreasing performance to 30-40FPS. Recommend using save-states to switch EFB>RAM off except when x-ray visor is used (not very often). Other slowdowns common when entering/existing water, likely due to visor droplet effect. "Accurate V-Beam" in right-click options provides noticeable speedup in large rooms. DSP-HLE works fine, except for very occasional loss of BGM (can be resolved by save/load or reset); DSP-LLE does not drop BGM but instead causes crackling and clicking sounds whenever framerate drops below 60. OpenMP texture decoder and disable fog/pixeldepth recommended for slight speedup, no ill effects observed. DOL swap still required to run.	anon
3.5-379	Windows 7	Intel Core i5-2500K @ 4.3 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680	100% emulation, there's no stuttering or lagging. Minor problems, such as 3 pixels at the middle of the screen. It's a bit annoying but easy to ignore. NVIDIA 3D vision isn't working, possibly a Dolphin problem. Settings used: Direct3D9, no AA, no Anisotropic filtering, HLE audio (seems to work right, without any problems), 1440x900 fullscreen resolution.	Megamew28
4.0-2826	Windows 7	Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.6 GHz	AMD Radeon HD 7970	OpenGL at 1920x1080 (3x internal res), no AA, 4x AF, works consistently at 58-60FPS - There was a halo around Samus during elevator cutscenes and in the menu screen that I did not see in 4.0-2591, I saw drops in FPS when entering or exiting water and MAJOR drops when fighting meta ridley (25FPS at times), other than than such a great experience playing MP1 in 1080p	anon
4.0-5384	Windows Server 2012	AMD FX-8350 @ 4.6 GHz	AMD Radeon HD 7970	D3D @1920x1080 (3x IR), no AA, 1x AF, playing at PAL50. Runs very nicely, minor FPS drops when entering water and in some places, much like in Metroid Prime 2, otherwise constant 50FPS. Played all the way through without major glitches. Very close to being perfect.	XorUnison
5.0-1637	Windows 10	Intel Core i7-4790 @ 3.6 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970	Both OpenGL and D3D11 @ 1920x1080 (3x IR), no AA, 16x AF. Mostly stable framerate at 60 FPS with the occasional drop. As expected, with the External Frame Buffer (XFB) disabled, a large black bar appears at the bottom of the screen and stretches the rest of the image. While setting the XFB to Virtual does fix this particular issue, there is constant flickering and the framerate drops somewhat. Setting the XFB to Real, however, causes severe graphical issues, and the framerate drops to around 4 FPS. As a result the game is unplayable for me.	LifeWulf
5.0-1943	Windows 10	Intel Core Xeon-5670 @ 4.8 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070	D3D12(Experimental) @ 1920x1080 (3x IR), no AA, 16x AF. High improvement in stability with less and shorter framerate drops than other rendering modes.	Searanger
5.0-2612	Windows 8.1	Intel Core i7-5820k @ 3.8 GHz	AMD R9 Fury X	Vulkan(Experimental) @ 3440x1440 (black bars to keep 16:9 aspect) (Window Size IR), 2x MSAA, 16x AF. Tested with European release. I encountered no problems during my run. Virtual XFB worked well, no flickering or other visible artifacts. Still experiences a few stutters when building shaders but it's almost perfect now.	Oceankhayne
5.0-4322	Windows 10	Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070	80% run w/ Vulkan at 3xIR, 16xAF, No AA & Virtual XFB. Perfectly playable in all areas despite moderate stuttering after loading a save & when exiting water (Shader Compilation?).	SolidStateDork

Gameplay Videos

Metroid Prime 1 Dolphin 5.0 vs Wii Comparison - The Retro Byte

Metroid Prime Trilogy (MP1 & MP2) HD Gameplay

Metroid Prime: Trilogy - Dolphin Emulator 5.0-12656 [1080p HD] - Nintendo Wii