Hacking Devolution - Public Release

[the_randomizer]

Does this happen with composite, aka the yellow video cable?

No, only component, and very few HDTVs support it with component, such as my parent's Sony Bravia. I'm guessing the Sony TV is doing some scaling with the signal. But yeah, it's a shame the game was encoded in 240p (makes sense, since the Snes and PSX were 240p native) Have you had any luck using component with this game? No amount of video forcing gets it to show up, well, the loading screen show up, then just the audio. Failing that, my TV is too low end to run it properly.

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

What I really want to know is how Devolution on the Wii U handles 480i and 240p over HDMI...

 

[the_randomizer]

What I really want to know is how Devolution on the Wii U handles 480i and 240p over HDMI...

For some reason, I have doubts it would be pretty or even work at all

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

You mean nobody has actually tested it?

Gentlemen, FOR SCIENCE!

 

[flame6753]

Does anybody think that it is possible for there to be support for usb controllers?

I'm a Tournament Organizer in the competitive Smash Bros. Community, and devolution could open a lot of doors for us. SSBM is such a precise game, we can't stand even the slightest bit of lag / input delay. This is why we have been using crt televisions for our tournaments for many years. As you guys know, gamecube and wii output 480i maximum, which has delay on any type of hdtv. the tv has to upscale the image to be used on the hdtv which takes time, resulting in a delay from when we press the button and when we see the action happen on the screen. this is unacceptable for us for events. Since the wii u (or any modern video game console) natively outputs 720p, there is no lag when playing on an lcd monitor or hdtv so with the help of devolution, we may be able to stream high quality, widescreen melee matches for the first time.which would be awesome for the community for this game (which is over 12 years old now)

example of one of my tournament matches recorded from the gamecube -
,

example recorded from wii u, using devolution -



anyway, the point that I'm getting to is that as of now, even with the problem of playing the game on lcd screens out of the way, the only way to use the original gamecube controller is with a gamecube > wii mote adapter, made either by mayflash or raphnet.

My problem with this is that even with the low latency of the wii mote, there is still more delay than if it were a direct connection, it wouldn't be a guaranteed lagless controller sulution and on top of that would not be reliable anyway because we would have to continually bring fresh batteries to events and have to worry about interference. we wouldn't want a wii mote to die mid match even once. In a tournament setting, we would all feel much more comfortable and at ease if a gamecube to usb adapter could be configured to be used with this for a direct wired connection to one of the usb ports. If anyone has any knowledge of this or would be able to get something going, pm me. I'm very serious about this and I could provide an adapter for testing or whatever you might need to program a plugin or modify the app. but in general this is feasible right? I don't see any reason why not.

 

[2ndApex]

-snip-

Actually Devolution does support USB controllers, but there's a few possible problems with it. Since Devolution runs in Wii mode I don't know if it supports more than two Wii U's USB slots, (shouldn't be a problem outside of doubles). The GC->USB converters also might not map correctly until Devolution gets custom button mapping support since they're made for PS3. I've also heard from Dolphin users that the GC-> have a small amount of input lag to them, but I don't think testing has been done yet.

I know it's not too helpful because I don't own a Wii U and none of these have actually been confirmed yet but these probably considerable if you want to use Wii U's for streams and tournaments.

Also the Melee widescreen hack shown in the video is the same/similar to the one used in Dolphin, and has trouble with lighting effects off on the side of the screen. Try using this one by Massive and IE from the SSBM Online Project instead to see if it works better.

If Devolution proves to be too much trouble at the moment I'd also hold on and wait for "Nintendont", a similar project in the works by Crediar which promises to have much better controller support and no wacky DRM which should make tournament setups MUCH easier in huge venues and large quantities.

 

[Maxternal]

Okay, guys, I can see your point that since Devolution is running in Wii mode it has ACCESS to USB ...
... BUT ...

USB gamepads don't have a common protocol and writing a HID parser is as enjoyable as hammering in a nail with your head.

Tueidj has made it very clear that he's not interested in doing the work necessary to make that happen. If you want that, you'll have to wait for Nintendon't (which will be the opposite, USB and no Bluetooth)

 

[Smash Br0]

I've got a couple of questions. I know that once you verify a Gamecube disc, some sort of file is created that lets Devolution know you own the actual game, and have permission to play without the disc from then onward.

My question is: What is this file or files attached to?
- The Wii console
- The external hard drive / flash drive / SD card
- A Wii Remote
- Something else
- A combination of the above

Also, what events would make Devolution require you to re-verify your ripped games?

I'd like to know, for example, if I would need to re-verify all my GC games if I switched to a different external hard drive or lost/sold the Wii Remote I used to verify the games with.

Thanks for any clarification.

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

I believe it's attached to a wii console and your external storage device by default. However, you can replace the attachment to the wii console with an attachment to a wiimote which then allows you to attach to a different system, such as a Wii U.

 

[Smash Br0]

Thanks for the fast response.

So, it's like this?

Wii Console (KEY)
External HDD (KEY)
Wii Remote (interchangeable)

or

Wii (U) Console (interchangeable)
External HDD (KEY)
Wii Remote (KEY)

How do I switch between these two options? Does switching require re-verification of previously verified GC games?

If I change my external hard drive, I'll need to re-verify all my GC games. Right?

Can only one external HDD be registered to a Wii (U) console / Wii Remote at a time?

Is there a way to verify a bunch of games in a row, without having to boot each game after each rip and verification?

Thanks again for any answers!

 

[celltf]

Anyone else having trouble playing PSO online on the Wii or is it just me? It was working fine just yesterday but today I haven't been able to connect.

 

[YoshiKart]

I would say it's like this:

Wii Console (SOURCE KEY #1)
SD Card / External HDD (KEY #2/3)
Wii Remote (KEY #1)

Depending on how you set up your combo (I have Devo on the SD, but games on the HDD), you can either have key #2, or key #2 and #3. You need ALL two/three keys. However, Wiimote is the substitute for source key #1 when used on a Family Wii or Wii U.

Afaik, switching any of the contents in key #2/#3 will require reverification. Adding more Wiimotes to use as key #1's also needs reverification.
Don't know if we can reverify as a batch. I have about 15 gamecube games, and it takes me maybe 45 minutes to verify it all. Quite annoying, I know.

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

FYI, the Devolution boot.dol can be moved to a different storage device without needing to re-verify game discs.

 

[[Truth]]

What I really want to know is how Devolution on the Wii U handles 480i and 240p over HDMI...

WiiU upscales everything just fine, N64 VC, Devolution PAL games etc.

 

[kp_centi]

FYI, the Devolution boot.dol can be moved to a different storage device without needing to re-verify game discs.

I thought we knew that? Since the dol is just the app itself it still checks on those DVV files at the same place and such.

 

[flame6753]

Actually Devolution does support USB controllers, but there's a few possible problems with it. Since Devolution runs in Wii mode I don't know if it supports more than two Wii U's USB slots, (shouldn't be a problem outside of doubles). The GC->USB converters also might not map correctly until Devolution gets custom button mapping support since they're made for PS3. I've also heard from Dolphin users that the GC-> have a small amount of input lag to them, but I don't think testing has been done yet.

I know it's not too helpful because I don't own a Wii U and none of these have actually been confirmed yet but these probably considerable if you want to use Wii U's for streams and tournaments.

Also the Melee widescreen hack shown in the video is the same/similar to the one used in Dolphin, and has trouble with lighting effects off on the side of the screen. Try using this one by Massive and IE from the SSBM Online Project instead to see if it works better.

If Devolution proves to be too much trouble at the moment I'd also hold on and wait for "Nintendont", a similar project in the works by Crediar which promises to have much better controller support and no wacky DRM which should make tournament setups MUCH easier in huge venues and large quantities.

I didn't know about that project, sick. And yes it handles widescreen similar to dolphin. And IE is a friend of mine, I'm just waiting for him to finish an improved version of that code that he is still working on. There are still some issues with that particular code afaik

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

WiiU upscales everything just fine, N64 VC, Devolution PAL games etc.

But the N64 VC is 480p and PAL games are 576i. I assume 480i works but again, my concern was 240p...

 

[9thSage]

But the N64 VC is 480p and PAL games are 576i. I assume 480i works but again, my concern was 240p...

I don't have that game (that Megaman disc) so I can't try it, but Genesis Plus GX's original video mode (which IIRC outputs at the Genesis's original res of 320x224) works fine on WiiU. Honestly, I'd not anticipate any problems.

 

[libertyernie]

To verify a GCN game, do you need to use an original Wii console? (Of course you'd probably need one to dump the disc image anyway.)

 

[Nintendo Maniac]

To verify a GCN game, do you need to use an original Wii console? (Of course you'd probably need one to dump the disc image anyway.)

For the most part yes, it's the only way that disc verification officially supported. However, it can actually work on a Family Wii if you have a 3-inch disc expander or do a hardware modification to your disc drive (that required taking said Wii apart).

Note that verification only happens the first time, so you could use somebody else's Wii system.