Tales of Symphonia

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Revision as of 19:57, 15 February 2016 by Mbc07 (talk | contribs) (Undo revision 122860 by 2605:E000:6003:CA00:716E:EC19:B565:769A (AR and Gecko codes are different, this one is a Gecko Code and wouldn't work by entering it as AR Code))
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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 5Stars5.pngEdit rating: Tales of Symphonia
Perfect
GameIDs
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

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.

Problems

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.

D3D Cutscene Rendering Issue

Some cutscenes have rendering issues with the D3D graphics backend. Use OpenGL to solve this issue. This needs verification; it should be fixed by the Depth Rewrites.

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. Make sure to disable Dolphin's Widescreen Hack before using this Gecko code.

NTSC-U

04001800 3FAAAAAB
04001804 3FE38E39
04001808 C2D50000
0400180C 443AA000
04001810 42900000
04001814 43cc0000
04001818 00000000
0400181C 44200000

04001900 8001861C
04001904 00002048
04001908 80023CA4
0400190C 00002048
04001910 8007D1A4
04001914 0000203C
04001918 8124A9B8
0400191C 00002048
04001920 800236D0
04001924 00002048
04001928 80C2A43C
0400192C 00002048
04001930 80C2B61C
04001934 00002048
04001938 8000FCE8
0400193C 00002084
04001940 80010370
04001944 00002090
04001948 00000000

04002000 C0001800
04002004 FC020040
04002008 40820004
0400200C C0401804
04002010 7C0802A6
04002014 480FC37C
040FE38C 4BF03C74

04002018 C0001818
0400201C FC030040
04002020 40820028
04002024 C000181C
04002028 FC040040
0400202C 4082001C
04002030 C0601808
04002034 C080180C
04002038 48000010
0400203C C0201810
04002040 C0401814
04002044 48000004
04002048 ED041828
0400204C 480FC414

04002050 3C800000
04002054 38841900
04002058 7CC802A6
0400205C 80A40000
04002060 2C050000
04002064 4182001C
04002068 80E40004
0400206C 38840008
04002070 7C053040
04002074 4082FFE8
04002078 7CE903A6
0400207C 4E800420
04002080 4BFFFF98
040FE45C 4BF03BF4

04002084 C0601818
04002088 C080180C
0400208C 4BFFFFBC

04002090 C0601808
04002094 C080181C
04002098 4BFFFFB0

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.

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 remains. To enable the projection hack on builds of Dolphin after that point, 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

Alternatively, you can add this AR/Gecko Code to completely remove the blur:

NTSC-U

04023C10 4E800020

Applying it to Disc1 will also apply it to Disc2 since they share the same GameID.

Configuration

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

Graphics

Config Setting Notes
Video Backend OpenGL Avoid cutscene rendering issue
Texture Cache Accuracy Position 2 (Middle) Fixes the skit and in-game dialog textures

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.

Δ
5.0-21264 (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 @ 3.45GHz 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 @ 3.81GHz 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 @ 3.8GHz 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 @ 2.2GHz 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 @ 3.3GHz 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 @ 3.2GHz 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 @ 4.1GHz NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 @ .9GHz 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 @ 2.3GHz 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 @ 3.4GHz 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 @ 3.2GHz 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 @ 3.4GHz 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 @ 2.5GHz 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 @ 4.1GHz 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