Dolphin Emulator For Android Now Runs Close To Full Speed

[Kirito-kun]

Got a high-end Android device? Well, it's now possible to run GameCube games at close to full speed on that device. Yes. Playing GameCube games on a smartphone or tablet.

Take a look at this video of a Galaxy Note 3 running Lugui's Mansion and Melee at close to 100% speed.



The emulator is still in alpha, so this is a great accomplishment. Looks like the inclusion of OpenGL ES3.0 has finally made the emulator usable.

The emulator is free on Google Play but be warned, you need a very high-end device to run it. The Galaxy Note 3 featured in the video is one of the most powerful Android devices currently available, so don't expect every device to be able to run this emulator.

 

[DinohScene]

Hello Wii games on phones in 2014.

 

[ganons]

But is it built ground up like Drastic?

 

[Kirito-kun]

But is it built ground up like Drastic?

It uses a different JIT compared to Dolphin for x86/PC, so I guess you call it "built from ground-up". But it's completely open-source, unlike DraStic, so I'm not complaining.

 

[PityOnU]

This is quite impressive.

Hmmm... Makes me wonder why the PC version isn't optimized as well.

 

[_Chaz_]

Back in 2002, I don't think the thought of a phone playing Gamecube ever crossed my mind. Now it seems too obvious.
At this rate, the 25th DS iteration may be able to run a Gamecube test application.

 

[ganons]

the actual gameplay of ssb looks unplayable. He should have demoed the other popular titles i.e. mario kart/galaxy, windwaker etc

 

[Duo8]

the actual gameplay of ssb looks unplayable. He should have demoed the other popular titles i.e. mario kart/galaxy, windwaker etc

To made it looks worse? Yeahhh

 

[Satangel]

This is quite impressive.

Hmmm... Makes me wonder why the PC version isn't optimized as well.

PC version is pretty top notch IMHO, I can play Mario Kart Wii on a pretty strong laptop, even online! Amazing, so easy to set up too

 

[GameWinner]

Woot! Woot! Gotta keep my eyes on this.

 

[PityOnU]

PC version is pretty top notch IMHO, I can play Mario Kart Wii on a pretty strong laptop, even online! Amazing, so easy to set up too

But your laptop is much more powerful than a smartphone...

 

[The Real Jdbye]

What. The fuck. How is this even possible...

 

[Kirito-kun]

What. The fuck. How is this even possible...

It's very possible. Smartphones and tablets are miles ahead of 6th gen home consoles as well as the Wii.

Galaxy Note 3

2.3 GHz quad-core ARM processor
Adreno 330 @ 130 GFLOPS
3 GB RAM

GameCube

485 MHz PowerPC single-core processor
ATI Flipper GPU @ 6.5 GFLOPS
43 MB RAM

Wii

783 MHz PowerPC single-core processor
ATI Hollywood @ 11 GFLOPS
88 MB RAM

 

[JoostinOnline]

It's really not about the emulator, just the power of the Android.

 

[Maxternal]

*Googles Galaxy Note 3's specs*

Hmm, I know of something else with a fairly nice GPU and a quad core 2ghz ARM proc
next stop, Dolphin on Vita

If a Wii game is a "nearly" full speed. I wonder about GameCube.

 

[Kirito-kun]

*Googles Galaxy Note 3's specs*

Hmm, I know of something else with a fairly nice GPU and a quad core 2ghz ARM proc
next stop, Dolphin on Vita

If a Wii game is a "nearly" full speed. I wonder about GameCube.

The only problem is that the PS Vita's GPU may not be powerful enough. It only pushes out 50 GFLOPS compared to the Note's 130 GFLOPS. And Dolphin needs a good GPU to run, I know from personal experience running the PC version. The Vita's GPU also doesn't support OpenGL ES 3.0, which is required for Dolphin to render 3D graphics at a playable speed.

 

[Fishaman P]

Very very VERY misleading. Full speed in menus and a prerendered video, whoop-dee-doo.

Melee runs (very glitchily) at 20% speed on the Galaxy S4 with OpenGL ES3 and Dual Core. THAT'S how it runs on high-end hardware.
And if you watched the video, you'd see that Luigi's Mansion is completely unplayable, no matter your patience. It's just broken.

Also, if you'll notice, the game is displaying in portrait mode. That's not because of the phone's orientation; it's a massive bug with the Adreno GPU drivers. That's the only way it can display in OpenGL ES3 mode on the high-end Samsung phones, at least for the moment.

 

[Kirito-kun]

Very very VERY misleading.

Melee runs (very glitchily) at 20% speed on the Galaxy S4 with OpenGL ES3 and Dual Core. THAT'S how it runs on high-end hardware.

Also, if you'll notice, the game is displaying in portrait mode. That's not because of the phone's orientation; it's a massive bug with the Adreno GPU drivers. That's the only way it can display in OpenGL ES3 mode on the high-end Samsung phones, at least for the moment.

20%? Were you paying attention to the video? It was running at least 2/3 normal speed.

Also, the phone was a Galaxy Note 3, which is more powerful than the Galaxy S4 in terms of CPU (Snapdragon 800 vs 600, 2.3 GHz vs 1.9 GHz) and also has more RAM.

 

[Fishaman P]

20%? Were you paying attention to the video? It was running at least 2/3 normal speed.

Also, the phone was a Galaxy Note 3, which is more powerful than the Galaxy S4 in terms of CPU (Snapdragon 800 vs 600, 2.3 GHz vs 1.9 GHz) and also has more RAM.

Again, it was only running faster than that IN MENUS. AKA, the REALLY easy part to emulate. Watch the timer in the Melee fight. Shows who watched the video (and tried it on their own hardware).
Yes, the 400MHz difference is a factor, but not a 50% speed factor. The 3GB of RAM is irrelevant; Dolphin and Android combined don't use more than 1.5GB.

 

[trumpet-205]

But your laptop is much more powerful than a smartphone...

Android version make even more sacrifice in terms of accuracy to get more speed out of it.

Higher accuracy (more closer to low level emulation) means emulating more system like, while less accuracy (more closer to high level emulation) means emulating results instead.

Higan/bsnes, an SNES emulator dedicated to accuracy rather than hacks and tricks, can't even run at full speed on many modern CPUs.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/...-3ghz-quest-to-build-a-perfect-snes-emulator/