Homebrew The Wii Ports ultimate thread

[Maeson]

ARE YOU KID-Oh god, you're not!



This is the best thing ever to happen to the Wii scene. I cannot stop laughing.

 

[niuus]

Added one more engine to the releases page of Quake.

 

[niuus]

Added A Link to the Past and Super Metroid.

 

[tcmt]

Is it normal for the OpenTyrian wii port to stutter like crazy ingame?

From the video in the first post I was under the impression that Tyrian runs great on the Wii. But at least on my Wii it stutters quite a bit and is pretty much unplayable. I used @niuus github build linked in the first post, installed on the SD card.
The menus and music run great but as soon as i get ingame (like the actually shooting part) it starts to stutter. I tried different settings, like turning down the graphics option in game, but that made no difference.

Is there something i'm misssing?

 

[nexstar400]

given gta 3 has been decompiled now, you guys think thats possible?

 

[niuus]

Is it normal for the OpenTyrian wii port to stutter like crazy ingame?

From the video in the first post I was under the impression that Tyrian runs great on the Wii. But at least on my Wii it stutters quite a bit and is pretty much unplayable. I used @niuus github build linked in the first post, installed on the SD card.
The menus and music run great but as soon as i get ingame (like the actually shooting part) it starts to stutter. I tried different settings, like turning down the graphics option in game, but that made no difference.

Is there something i'm misssing?

Years since I last played it, and it went as perfect as the video. But I fired it up just to check your question.

Played my 2020 copy on SD. 1000% perfect, no issues.

Copied a fresh one to USB, downloaded from Github. Maxed detail level to Wild. 1000% perfect, no issues.

Just like the video.

Something is wrong on your end.

given gta 3 has been decompiled now, you guys think thats possible?

It could happen, taking into account it was on PS2. But for a Wii, i'd say a lot of optimization would be needed. Might be many years before someone even dares to, if at all.

 

[tcmt]

Years since I last played it, and it went as perfect as the video. But I fired it up just to check your question.

Played my 2020 copy on SD. 1000% perfect, no issues.

Copied a fresh one to USB, downloaded from Github. Maxed detail level to Wild. 1000% perfect, no issues.

Just like the video.

Something is wrong on your end.

Very weird. Thanks for checking. I tried it again this morning both on SD and USB but both installations stutter the same for me. Is this some PAL vs NTSC thing? I tried setting the console to PAL50 aswell as PAL60. But that also didn't help. I don't know, i just thought it could be some kind of video sync issue since the stutters are very regular occurring every half-second or so. Music in the meantime runs absolutely fine and without stutters in the background.

The Wii is up-to-date and set up according to the newest ModMii suggestions and everyhing else i throw at it runs absolutely fine.

 

[niuus]

Very weird. Thanks for checking. I tried it again this morning both on SD and USB but both installations stutter the same for me. Is this some PAL vs NTSC thing? I tried setting the console to PAL50 aswell as PAL60. But that also didn't help. I don't know, i just thought it could be some kind of video sync issue since the stutters are very regular occurring every half-second or so. Music in the meantime runs absolutely fine and without stutters in the background.

The Wii is up-to-date and set up according to the newest ModMii suggestions and everyhing else i throw at it runs absolutely fine.

Ahh, so you failed to mention you're running the game on a PAL Wii... what a detail to be left out.

It probably doesn't have compatibility for PAL since the first original version, I haven't checked the source in ages and don't have a PAL Wii to test if I change it for it.

 

[tcmt]

Ahh, so you failed to mention you're running the game on a PAL Wii... what a detail to be left out.

It probably doesn't have compatibility for PAL since the first original version, I haven't checked the source in ages and don't have a PAL Wii to test if I change it for it.

Yeah sorry. I couldn't find any mention of the port not being able to properly play on PAL consoles. So it's not so much that I failed to mention it but rather that it doesn't say anywhere "probably doesn't run properly on PAL consoles" so I didn't think about it.

I'd assume I'm not the first user with a PAL console to try out the port so I would have guessed that someone had similar issues to mine and mentioned it somewhere but my search came up empty.

Thanks for your time anyway.

 

[Maeson]

Why would there be a difference between PAL 60 and NTSC? Even more, why would the game perform fine on menus but then struggle on gameplay? That's not how refresh rates work, and makes no sense. And if we were talking about PAL 50, then everything would be slower, not just some parts.

Anyway. I tested myself. It works fine on my PAL Wii at 60Hz 480p. Looks interesting enough and I'll check it when I have time, I was just testing to help. The game seems to work at 30 frames and noticed no stuttering nor audio issues.

I do not know what could be wrong on your end. Did you get the correct tyrian files? Is your SD card fast enough? I know slower ones can cause stuttering with certain things, but I think even average modern SD cards should be fast enough. Is it formatted correctly?

 

[tcmt]

Why would there be a difference between PAL 60 and NTSC? Even more, why would the game perform fine on menus but then struggle on gameplay? That's not how refresh rates work, and makes no sense. And if we were talking about PAL 50, then everything would be slower, not just some parts.

Anyway. I tested myself. It works fine on my PAL Wii at 60Hz 480p. Looks interesting enough and I'll check it when I have time, I was just testing to help. The game seems to work at 30 frames and noticed no stuttering nor audio issues.

I do not know what could be wrong on your end. Did you get the correct tyrian files? Is your SD card fast enough? I know slower ones can cause stuttering with certain things, but I think even average modern SD cards should be fast enough. Is it formatted correctly?

Thank you for testing it out yourself! You mentioned you have tried in in 60Hz with 480p. My Wii is currently on a CRT using either 576i (PAL50) or 480i (Pal60). Both modes stutter for Tyrian. I might try hooking up the Wii to my HDTV via component later to see if the 480 progressive resolution makes any difference.

Otherwise my SD card should be fast enough and is formatted in standard fat32. And I get the same results when I try from USB. This and the fact that everything else I have currently installed is working fine makes me think that it isn't the speed of either my SD or USB. Also the stutters are very regular and don't change if, for example, there is a lot going on on screen.

Here is a short clip demonstrating the stutters. Not sure how well it comes across through the video but it's very noticeable in person. I think you can see it the best in the clip when those rotating circular enemies appear on screen (also sorry for the bad gameplay but I only had one hand free, the other was holding my phone ):



And yeah it's a fantastic game. If you find the time I wholeheartedly recommend playing through it.


Edit: In regards if I used the correct tyrian files. I used the ones on niuus GitHub page as well as the original files. Made no difference.

 

[Maeson]

Yeah, that stuttering seems very consistent. It reminds me a lot of my experience with Sega CD emulation when I used an old SD card, but if everything else is fine, I don't know what to say. It'd be very weird if it was caused by interlaced resolutions, but checking with an HDTV would be useful.

I can't try myself right now but when I get some time I'll try setting my Wii at 480i and see if there's any difference.

Edit: Okay, I got a couple minutes to try. It still works at the correct speed on my end even on 480i. I even tried the different "speed" levels in the options and I see no stuttering at all.

You mentioned your devices were formatted to Fat32, but is the cluster 32k too? It might affect in some way.

 

[tcmt]

Yeah, that stuttering seems very consistent. It reminds me a lot of my experience with Sega CD emulation when I used an old SD card, but if everything else is fine, I don't know what to say. It'd be very weird if it was caused by interlaced resolutions, but checking with an HDTV would be useful.

I can't try myself right now but when I get some time I'll try setting my Wii at 480i and see if there's any difference.

Edit: Okay, I got a couple minutes to try. It still works at the correct speed on my end even on 480i. I even tried the different "speed" levels in the options and I see no stuttering at all.

You mentioned your devices were formatted to Fat32, but is the cluster 32k too? It might affect in some way.

Cluster is 32k, yes. I tried in 480p via component on my HDTV. Still stuttering. Then i tried four different SD cards. No difference . Tried different USB HDD's. Still stuttering. This is so weird .

I just hope it's not a sign of my Wii dying soon. But then again. Apart from Tyrian all is well for now. Guess i'm just not going to enjoy this masterpiece on my Wii. Still would be nice to know what is actually wrong with my Wii...

Anyway thanks for taking your time getting back to me and checking it out yourself! Appreciate it!

 

[Maeson]

I am really out of ideas then. Four different cards and the USB with same result I guess takes out that as a possible culprit.

Are you launching the app from HBC?

I don't think your Wii is going out, everything else works fine and of course playing Wii/GC hardware takes more effort than this port would need.

I am sorry I couldn't help, I can't imagine what could be going on, the game simply works fine on my end and I do not know what else to try.

Did you use the same SD adapter on all the cards?

 

[tcmt]

I am really out of ideas then. Four different cards and the USB with same result I guess takes out that as a possible culprit.

Are you launching the app from HBC?

I don't think your Wii is going out, everything else works fine and of course playing Wii/GC hardware takes more effort than this port would need.

I am sorry I couldn't help, I can't imagine what could be going on, the game simply works fine on my end and I do not know what else to try.

Did you use the same SD adapter on all the cards?

Don't feel sorry! I greatly appreciate your help but I don't want you to feel bad if we don't find a solution here.

I tried launching it from the HBC, tried launching it through USB Loader GX, even made a forwarder (cause I was running out of ideas ) and launched from that. No difference.

I used two full-size SD cards and used two micro sd's via two separate adapters. I really feel like that isn't the problem. Not sure how well (if at all) the Wii supports modern SSDs but I'm going to try out my external Samsung SSD via USB next just for fun and experimentation. Always wanted to know if the Wii can handle modern SSDs anyway. And if that doesn't work it really can't be any bus speed limitation I guess. Unless both my SD card controller and the USB controller in my Wii are somehow damaged.

I personally like troubleshooting things like this so I don't mind hammering on this particular problem a bit more to see if anything helpful comes out of it.


edit: just tried my SSD via USB. No luck sadly. If anything it might have been even worse but that could also just be my imagination.

 

[Maeson]

I hope you find the issue then. I really don't know what else to try.

I think people have used SSDs but you don't really get any improvement as USB 2.0 limits the speed (not that the Wii needs anything higher for games to work normally, I think it would only help when entering USBLoader GX or Nintendont when checking your drive to see the games or things like that).

Good luck!

 

[niuus]

Why would there be a difference between PAL 60 and NTSC? Even more, why would the game perform fine on menus but then struggle on gameplay? That's not how refresh rates work, and makes no sense. And if we were talking about PAL 50, then everything would be slower, not just some parts.

Yeah, that's what I thought, but since the tester has the hardware and is having the problem, I can't bet on his console doing things correctly without being able to verify. I do have a PAL Gamecube, but it is not the test subject, sadly.

My Wii is currently on a CRT using either 576i (PAL50) or 480i (Pal60). Both modes stutter for Tyrian.

I use both setups, progressive 480p and CRT 480i. All working fine.

Not sure how well (if at all) the Wii supports modern SSDs but I'm going to try out my external Samsung SSD via USB next just for fun and experimentation. Always wanted to know if the Wii can handle modern SSDs anyway. And if that doesn't work it really can't be any bus speed limitation I guess.

edit: just tried my SSD via USB. No luck sadly. If anything it might have been even worse but that could also just be my imagination.

The console doesn't care, you can even use M.2 if you have the money for it. Nevermind the limits of USB 2.0 protocol, it works. I configured one for a client when I repaired Wii / Wii U console some years ago, it was very handy and speedy.

I figured from your later posts that you also use component cables as me, so that's out of the question too. FAT32 SD, 32K, Homebrew Channel, and that's it.

 

[tcmt]

Yeah, that's what I thought, but since the tester has the hardware and is having the problem, I can't bet on his console doing things correctly without being able to verify. I do have a PAL Gamecube, but it is not the test subject, sadly.


I use both setups, progressive 480p and CRT 480i. All working fine.


The console doesn't care, you can even use M.2 if you have the money for it. Nevermind the limits of USB 2.0 protocol, it works. I configured one for a client when I repaired Wii / Wii U console some years ago, it was very handy and speedy.

I figured from your later posts that you also use component cables as me, so that's out of the question too. FAT32 SD, 32K, Homebrew Channel, and that's it.

Yeah it clearly is my console and not the port itself. I tried everything I could think of (different SD cards, USB drives, different TVs etc..) so I'm going to leave this one alone for now. As I said everything else works fine on the console. Still is strange though...

I would like to thank you as well, Niuus, for the support. If I ever find a solution, I'll report back .

 

[niuus]

Yeah it clearly is my console and not the port itself. I tried everything I could think of (different SD cards, USB drives, different TVs etc..) so I'm going to leave this one alone for now. As I said everything else works fine on the console. Still is strange though...

I would like to thank you as well, Niuus, for the support. If I ever find a solution, I'll report back .

Curious, does Descent work for you?

 

[tcmt]

Curious, does Descent work for you?

I unfortunately don't have the files. Never bought it on GOG and I don't have an original copy either. As far as I understand the shareware version doesn't work with that port. In case i ever get around buying it, I'll report back. Maybe next time gog has a sale going on