Hacking Testing .dol on PC / Windows

[blitter]

Hi all, I've just registered after following this forum for a long time =]

In my spare time I code this and that on the PC. I've also chipped a few Wii's.
What I want to do now is migrate over to coding for the Wii. Homebrew is really getting cool, and suits my oldskool style (though I also am quite good with OpenGL).
Right now I'm still waiting for the price of the Wii to come down before purchasing one to own...(Ninty dropped the Gamecube price in 5 minutes hmmm). I have access to a [Wii] console at weekends (and that usually involves a lot of band fun

) but I could really do with testing my ideas on an emulator during the weekdays. However, none of the emulators seem to run anything that I throw at them? It's not my code as I've tried a few pre-compiled examples.

If any (Homebrew) coders could give me a heads up I would really appreciate it.
The tutorials I intend to follow are at: http://www.codemii.com/category/wii-programming-tutorials/ Those should get me started enough to suss out how to implement my C++ knowledge, and get a nice Homebrew game on the go.

Cheers

 

[WB3000]

I was going to recommend WiiLoad for testing directly to the Wii, but seeing as how that's not an option, I can't say for sure. There's Gcube that comes with DevKitPro, but it probably has no Wii support. I heard that Dolphin has limited Wii support as well, but perhaps you could give it a try?

 

[blitter]

Thanks for reply WB3000. I've tried a few versions of Gcube, and also Dolphin...but no joy. I guess there wouldn't be Wiimote support even if they did work, which also rules out setting up the old Gamecube I have (via acloader).

Hm, guess I need a test machine if I can find one going cheap. I just thought there might be a workaround.

 

[kashin]

Dolphin has WiiMote support, however, if you're planning to use it for more than its bluetooth (no pointing and aiming) functions you'll need to get yer own LED bar set up.

 

[blitter]

kashin thank you very much

When I had previously tried Dolphin, it wouldn't run the "helloworld" tutorial! But after your suggestion I looked in to it properly and it's a top emulator!
All of the NeHe examples work fine. I started GL with NeHe many many years ago, so I'm quite excited right now

I'll be looking in to building a sensor bar now, and picking up a Bluetooth dongle. Both essential to my design...which has suddenly evolved, cheers mate.

 

[blitter]

Ok I'm getting on with things really well now...but there's something which has been bugging me since I migrated over to coding on the Wii.

Timing: I have things under control, as in frame-rate independent, but the Dolphin emulator is running 4x faster than the Wii.
Right now I've knocked up a manual override (at compile time), but I would sooner either detect if running on Wii or emulator, or find some documentation on the clock!

Any coders wanna give me a heads up on this annoyance please

And sorry to the other 99.99% who are reading this as wtf?

 

[daxtsu]

Do you have it set to use Dual Core and Idle skip at the same time? Turn off Idle Skip.

 

[blitter]

Good suggestion but I've just tried it with little change...however, it did make me notice that the emulator ignores v-sync setting in windows. My code should work at what is currently 240-270fps (as in objects move the same speed as if it was running at a capped 60fps).
So two things came of this latest post cheers: recheck my timing code, and register on the Dolphin forum to request v-sync!

 

[daxtsu]

Also try single core with idle skipping perhaps. Dual core is a bit buggy.

 

[blitter]

That takes it back down to the 240 range. Actually it runs a little over (244ish), causing the program to gradually lose visual sync when I run it side-by-side with the Wii.
I'll check out the latest weekly Dolphin update tomorrow, and give my timing design a rethink.