Tales of Symphonia

Tales of Symphonia
Developer(s)	Namco Tales Studio
Publisher(s)	Namco Bandai Games
Series	Tales
Platform(s)	GameCube
Release date(s)	JP August 29, 2003 NA July 13, 2004 EU November 19, 2004
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player, Co-op (4)
Input methods	GameCube Controller
Compatibility	5 Perfect
GameIDs	GQSDAF, GQSFAF, GQSEAF, GQSPAF, GQSIAF, GTOJAF, GQSSAF
See also...	Dolphin Forum thread Open Issues Search Google Search Wikipedia

In a dying village on Sylvarant, legend has it that a Chosen One will one day appear from among the people, and the land will be reborn. Now, in Tales of Symphonia (テイルズ オブ シンフォニア, Teiruzu obu Shinfonia), you must enter a cel-shaded world in which you command real-time battles. Execute and combine hundreds of special attacks, magic spells, and combos. Each character grows to suit your fighting style, and the storyline changes based on the characters' relationships. The line between good and evil blurs in this immersive adventure where the fate of two interlocked worlds hangs in the balance. A direct spin-off sequel titled Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World was released for Wii.

Emulation Information

Pink Pearl Ring Quest Crash

The quest in Sybak to collect the Pink Pearl Ring can crash. This has been observed to happen on real GameCubes and Wiis, and seems to happen when the quest is done at a time when the developers didn't anticipate, or if cheats were used to get various other items.

Sometimes its the game - Tales of Symphonia

Cannot Grab Blocks (Keyboard Controls)

When emulating the control stick with a keyboard, it may seem impossible to push or pull blocks in some instances of the game. It's because the character can't grab the blocks while running. A workaround is to assign a key to the Main Stick Modifier in the GCPad settings, which will cut the controller stick's range in half while pressed. The character in-game will walk instead of running, thus allowing it to grab the blocks.

Broken Curtains in Schoolhouse

Turns out the developers messed up the curtains in the school house in one of the rooms. They appear on the back wall rotated out of the screen. You can even use freecam to see the rest of the missing ones. This happens on console as well.

Broken graphics on console.

Multishadowing

Shadows cast on whatever is below them, even if they've already hit a solid object. This is a bug in the game and unrelated to Dolphin.

Multishadowing on console.

Problems

Opening FMV Stuttering

The opening FMV stutters even when being emulated at full speed. Setting the Emulated CPU Clock Override to 130% or more can work around the problem. Refer issue 7234.

Skit and Dialog Textures

When viewing a skit or when characters talk during in-game dialog, certain textures will not accurately update when the Texture Cache is set to Fast. During skits, character icons may not appear to be talking (mouths won't move). During in-game dialog, the mouth textures may not change when a character speaks. Setting the Texture Cache slider to Position 2 (Middle) resolves this issue. It is set by default in the GameINI, however opening the graphics configuration during play may cause the problem to reappear. Refer issue 10705. Fixed by 5.0-4171.

Enhancements

HD Textures

Pack here: [1]

Note: If you are using the widescreen code below, you may want to go into the texture pack's menu folder and delete the 9 character icons and 9 character portraits since their aspect ratio is too narrow.

Widescreen Gecko Code

The game has some problems with fire effects in some areas with Dolphin's widescreen hack that can be solved with the following Gecko Code, and it needs a render fix. Textboxes and a small amount of text will be glitched up. Make sure to disable Dolphin's Widescreen Hack before using this Gecko code. This Widescreen Hack Keeps the HUD Unstretched.

NA

$16:9 Widescreen
0435D88C 44555555
0435AE50 44555555
0435B728 44555555
0435BB18 44555555
0435C44C 44555555
0435B654 3FE38E39
0435AFF8 3FE38E39
C20A0690 00000002
3C804420 90830000
C0830000 00000000
C2010360 00000003
3C804455 60845555
90830000 C0830000
60000000 00000000
C202732C 00000003
3C804455 60845555
90830000 C0830000
60000000 00000000
C200FCD8 00000003
3C804455 60845500
90830000 C0830000
60000000 00000000
C211717C 00000005
C003000C 3C003B19
6000999A 80C30000
7C003000 40820010
3C00BF40 90020000
C0020000 00000000
21201A44 C02436C0
052936C0 44555555
05296024 3FE38E39
05296320 44555555
05293D60 44555555
052939B8 44555555
E2000001 80008000
20C2B274 4B4D23B1
04C2D4E8 3FF3CF38
C2C2B620 00000005
80A10064 3C8080C2
6084B000 7C052000
4180000C 3C803B19
90830000 38800001
60000000 00000000
E2000001 80008000

EU (German)

$16:9 Widescreen [Ralf]
0410071C C3A2882C
043644CC 3FE38E39

EU (French)

$16:9 Widescreen [Ralf, Welohabi]
04100714 C3A2882C
04367E6C 3FE38E39

60Hz PAL

In the PAL-Version the 60Hz mode cannot be activated at startup. Use this Gecko code to force the 60Hz mode.

EU (German)

$60Hz [Ralf]
04000088 3FE0802B
0400008C 63FF188C
04000090 93ED8670
04000094 4810645C
04070A74 38C0000F
04070AC4 3804188C
04070B00 38C0000F
041064EC 4BEF9B9C
022B1892 000001C1
022B1894 000001C8
022B1898 0000000F
022B189C 000001C8

Reduce Double Image

The game utilizes a blur technique as a "focus effect". During normal top-down gameplay, anything in the center of the screen is clear, but the edges are distorted and duplicated. If the camera angle moves down to the character's level, the effect becomes a distance blur. This is not a problem with Dolphin - this is an actual game effect that the developers intended and is present on console. But, at the higher resolutions Dolphin is capable of, it can be very annoying.

Use the following gecko codes to disable the effect. Applying it to Disc1 will also apply it to Disc2 since they share the same GameID.

NA

$Remove Blur
04023C10 4E800020
0403EFA4 4E800020

JP

$Remove Blur
04023828 4E800020
0403EBE4 4E800020

EU (German)

$No Blur [Ralf]
00363285 00000001

EU (French)

$No Blur [Ralf, Welohabi]
00366C25 00000001

Projection Hack (obsolete)

Previously, Dolphin included a Projection Hack preset specifically for this game. The projection hack removes the blur from the top down sections of the game, but in doing so it makes the over-the-shoulder sections much worse. In 4.0-2356 the projection hack GUI was removed, and the preset with it. However, the functionality remained until 5.0-6860. To enable the projection hack on builds before 5.0-6860 and after 4.0-2356, create a user GameINI for the game (right click the game in the game list > Properties > press the "Edit Config" button to create or edit a user GameINI) with the following text:

[Video]
PH_ZNear = 0.00026
PH_ZFar = 0.00026
ProjectionHack = 1

Projection Hack off (proper emulation)

Projection Hack on

Configuration

This title does not need non-default settings to run properly.

Version Compatibility

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

r667

3.5

3.5-135

Δ

5.0-20144 (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
2.0	Windows XP	AMD Athlon II X2 215 @ 3.45 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce 7025	It took 75+ hours to complete this game. Most time at 80-100%. Some slowdowns (65-75%) in big areas and WorldMap.
r6878	Windows 7	AMD Phenom II 965 @ 3.81 GHz	ATI Radeon HD 4870	Mostly 60FPS, 30 in world map, sometimes lags in battle. Lags during transitions. Music is messed up.
r7409	Windows 7	Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 3.8 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT	Full playable with LLE, Fire and Text boxes messed a bit. Rare lag on graphical intensive scenes (battle/worldmap)	GothicIII
r7480	Ubuntu 10.04	Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 @ 2.2 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT	All seems to work except for the BGM. It's choppy. Intro stutters as well. No lags observed.	Chocwise
3.0	Windows 7	Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.3 GHz	AMD Radeon HD 6870	Game runs full speed at all times with LLE. Make sure you have LLE on Thread enabled to gain a great speed boost. The game only lags in certain menu´s.	Garteal
3.0-235	Windows 7	Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.2 GHz	ATI Radeon HD 4870x2	60FPS constant with DSP HLE but at cause of sound glitches (music) when DSP LLE enable sound is fixed and game runs between 80-100%	arcticmedia
3.5	Windows 7	Intel Core i7-950 @ 4.1 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 @ .9 GHz	60FPS constant even with DSP LLE enabled, which is still necessary if u don't want to experience music glitches.	Titouf
4.0	Windows 7	AMD Phenom X3 8650 @ 2.3 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT	The majority of the game is 45-60FPS, but there are areas where the FPS can drop to 35-45FPS. Regardless, the game is very playable. Settings used is Direct3D9, 1x native/0x AA/1x AF, and mid-Texture Cache. Audio is DSP HLE. There were no graphical issues and audio was perfect so long as the FPS stayed high.
4.0.1	Windows 7	Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.4 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250	Runs perfectly. Occasional freezing which leads to Dolphin crashing. Seems to work better with the JITIL experimental recompiler, but feels a little smoother with JIT. OpenGL graphics, HLE audio.
4.0.2	Windows 7	Intel Core i5-3470 @ 3.2 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250	Runs at a steady 60FPS at 2.5x internal resolution, 16x AF and 16x CSAA with OpenGL and HLE. Looks absolutely beautiful.	S1dology
4.0.2	Windows 7	Intel Core i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470	Played with 1920x1584 internal resolution and 16xQ CSAA, didn't drop under 60FPS so far. Used the recommended settings to avoid glitches, but for some reason the start menu disappears. Sound of cutscenes stutters at certain points. Besides that the game runs great and looks a lot better than the original on gc.	Walkerlos
4.0-8	Fedora 22	Intel Core i5-3210M @ 2.5 GHz	Intel HD Graphics 3000	Runs at a constant 60FPS @ 2x native resolution with the exception of entering a new area, in which case it drops down to 30 for a few seconds. Minor audio chops and rare slow downs in battle. Played for about 4 hours, no crashes or glitches.	‎Inexplicit
4.0-7675	Windows 7	AMD FX-6300 @ 4.1 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti	Runs very well at solid 60FPS with occasional Audio and minor Graphical glitches. Areas with Fire effects seem to be very blurry but still playable. Settings: HLE Audio, OpenGL 3x resolution, Widescreen hack, 8x MSAA & SSSA enabled. Played 2 hours so far without a crash or dip in frames!

Gameplay Videos

Dolphin Emulator 4.0 - Tales of Symphonia (1080p HD) - Nintendo GameCube

Dolphin 4514 SVN - Tales of Symphonia GC - Funcionando 40 - 60FPS

Tales of Symphonia on NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV - Dolphin Emulator (Nintendo GameCube)