(Guide) Dolphin Emulator and the best settings for each game for the P20-Pro

[dladz]

I've made one of these tutorials for the HTC 10 and Oneplus 5 and both went down well, have struggled to match the power of the 835 and it's Adreno GPU on the P20 Pro, the Kirin is fast but the Mali has been this phones achilles heel , it isn't awful but it simply does not have the most optimized drivers and no one will ever get the most out of it.

Until now...

A chap over on the Dolphin-emu forums called Zhang Wei has went and done some amazing wizardry specifically for Kirin based devices.

Moving onto the emulator itself, it's brilliant compared to the original, the results which I've seen for myself are nothing short of spectacular, not every game is perfect (but then no emulator is perfect)

All the games I tried ran at a solid 60fps without anomalies and without any crashes, below i'll post specifically how to replicate this on your devices and any files you'll need, it's not hard but one thing i have found that i needed was GPU Boost, anyone who has EMUI 8.1 past 130 will already have this, if you like me are running a non EMUI ROM then you can install the Magisk module for the same effect.

Although I believe that this version of Dolphin is made for Honor / Huawei devices, some Samsung devices run Mali so should see the same benefits, albeit without GPU turbo.

Hope you enjoy, any questions, plz let me know



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Pre-requisites

Root Access - if you wish to use advanced kernel features or if you haven't already got GPU Boost / turbo as part of your ROM / stock ROM.
Android with a Mali based GPU, this specific version is for Mali / Kirin
A legitimate ROM file of the game you want to play


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Files

1. The emulator - [url]https://github.com/weihuoya/dolphin/releases [/url] (This is the main GitHub page for Wei Zhang's builds)

2. A GameCube ISO / ROM file - unfortunately I cannot provide links for these as it would infringe on XDA rules and by not owning the original you cannot have a copy, I will leave this to your googling abilities, please DO NOT link to any ROM sites here they will be removed.

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Installation

NOTE**** For the purposes of this tutorial i will assume that you have never installed Dolphin on your phone, should you need a clean install you'll need to remove everything first

1. Grab the emulator and copy it to your phone, if it's already there then open it with a file manager, click install

2. Open Magisk, click downloads, search or find GPU Boost, click install and reboot.

3. (optional but recommended) Open Magisk, click downloads, search or find Swap Torpedo, click install and reboot.

4. Open settings and stop the android system from optimizing the Dolphin app, this will help with performance.

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Setup

Below are the settings for each section, I've found can max out most games

Zelda - The Windwaker, MarioKart, Smash Bros, Mario Strikers, Tiger Woods 06, Burn out 2, Ikaruga.

Resident Evil 4 is a different animal altogether but the settings here should be enough to make it totally playable.

My personal favourite is the WindWaker which is just a superb game, this has been causing me some problems using Vulkan, so Open GL is preferred, I'm trying to find the perfect settings for it still, will update here once i have.

1. Open the app up and click the settings bar up the top (3 dots) you'll be given a list of options, below is each section and their respective choices, there is a floppy disc icon at the top of each section, everytime you make a change click the disc to save.

2. General:

CPU Core - JIT ARM64
Dual core - on
Override emulated CPU Clock Speed - off
Emulated clock speed - unchanged
Speed limit - 100%
Sync on skip idle - on
JIT Follow branch - on
Enable cheats - off (only noobs cheat )
Change discs - on
Audio stretching - on
Audio back end - Cubeb

3. Graphics settings:

Video Backend - Vulkan
Show FPS - on (unless you're happy with performance and don't want to test or tweak for more performance)
Shader compilation mode - Synchronous
Compile shaders before starting - off
Back end multithreading - on
Aspect ratio - Force 16:9 (for me this is the best ratio for the p20 pro, it's up to you here)
Display scale - 100%

4. Enhancements:

Internal resolution - depending on the game I toggle between 1x and 2x
Full screen anti aliasing - off
Anisotropic Filtering - off
Post processing effect - off
Scaled EFB Copy - on
Per-Pixel lighting - on
Force Texture filtering - on
Force 24 bit colour - on
Disable fog - off
Disable copy filter - on
Arbitrary mipmap detection - on
Widescreen hack - personal choice ( prefer this to be on, more screen to see although a little zoomed out)

5. Hacks:

Skip EFB Access from CPU - on
Ignore format changes - on
Store EFB copies to Texture only - on
Defer EFB Copies to RAM - on
Texture cache accuracy - Low
GPU Texture decoding - off
Store XFB copies to texture only - on
Immediately present XFB - on
Fast calculation depth - on
Framebuffer format - RGBA8

6. Interface:

Use Panic handlers - off (personal choice, i don't need it, shows errors when they happen)
Show on screen display messages - off (again personal choice)
Use Built-in Database of game names - on

7. Gamecube / Wii and Debug:

Leave all of them at stock, none need to be altered.


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And Finally

Thats pretty much it chaps, get yourself a ROM which you own (we have to say that) and load it up, I personally have a folder called ROM's which i've pointed to within the app.

All games can be played with touchscreen but I would definitely recommend a bluetooth pad, the one i use is the iPega extendible, which has proven to be brilliant, the below link is not the cheapest I've found it for, mine cost £16 so shop around.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-C...d=1550867350&sr=8-6&keywords=ipega+extendable

The touchscreen controls can be turned off "Whilst" you are within a game, just swipe down and then click options, you can toggle the controls from there, move them around, make them different sizes etc.

You do have the option to make some changes from this same menu but I would advise against this as it can get confusing.

One thing i would say to do if you have a few people around is to get a USB-C - HDMI converter and get a few pads, you can use up to 4 on this emulator.

This is my hub

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-Prem...=1550868584&sr=8-13&keywords=anker+hdmi+usb+c

A bit pricey but a great unit.

The install path on android is /sdcard/dolphi-mmj/

The GC folder holds your save games so make a back up if you need to complete a full uninstall if you are testing or changing versions.



Screenshots in 2nd post, taken from my phone, note at the top left, a solid 60fps, it does drop to mid 50's now and again, but then again so did the Gamecube, I would say that there is headroom for up-scaling for textures and or resolution.

Enjoy, hopefully this tutorial helped you and you're enjoying games on your P20 Pro the way games should be played, if you liked this tut then please hit thanks..

Cheers, any questions let me know and I'll do what I can to help.

:good:

 

[dladz]

Screenshots

Will upload more and maybe do a video once i've got the windwaker working as it should.

:good:

 

[amdultra]

Thx for the guide, was able to push stable 30 fps in wind waker with 2x resolution on my mate 20 pro. Before, was need to use performance mode which heat and drain the battery. Any tips for good version?

 

[dladz]

Thx for the guide, was able to push stable 30 fps in wind waker with 2x resolution on my mate 20 pro. Before, was need to use performance mode which heat and drain the battery. Any tips for good version?

You shouldn't have to. But you may have to disable "optimise this app"

Performance mode should not be needed.

 

[amdultra]

ok thx for additional tips, you can find this menu at battery optimization on EMUI 9.1


btw can you run the sky crawler at fullspeed?

 

[dladz]

ok thx for additional tips, you can find this menu at battery optimization on EMUI 9.1


btw can you run the sky crawler at fullspeed?

Not sure pal, haven't had it installed for some time now...been flashing and testing ROMs so not ideal..

Majority of games work relatively well, compared to Snapdragon devices it's not as good but the version here is decent for mali chips.

 

[amdultra]

Not sure pal, haven't had it installed for some time now...been flashing and testing ROMs so not ideal..

Majority of games work relatively well, compared to Snapdragon devices it's not as good but the version here is decent for mali chips.

i see, well legend of zelda wind waker run half speed in first stage where env is large, beach spiker ,beyond good and evil also run stuttering with half speed. Little dissapointed cause both game run full speed at 1x res with snapdragon 710. Altough i can push with performance mode and get full speed, the heat is awful and killing battery, fyi i was using mate 20 pro with kirin 980

 

[dladz]

i see, well legend of zelda wind waker run half speed in first stage where env is large, beach spiker ,beyond good and evil also run stuttering with half speed. Little dissapointed cause both game run full speed at 1x res with snapdragon 710. Altough i can push with performance mode and get full speed, the heat is awful and killing battery, fyi i was using mate 20 pro with kirin 980

Depends which version you're using mate. The 710 won't have the grunt I don't think.

If you use the version I posted here on Huawei devices then it'll benefit from it..

Snap dragon needs a different version or it'll have a negative effect.

 

[Kittykotty]

Great guide for setting up this "demanding" emulator for phones. Jk. I have one question. I have a different phone which is a Samsung S7 variant (Exynos 8890) and was trying to run Dolphin on it. Any tips that you would like to share on this? Thanks again for the guide.

 

[dladz]

Great guide for setting up this "demanding" emulator for phones. Jk. I have one question. I have a different phone which is a Samsung S7 variant (Exynos 8890) and was trying to run Dolphin on it. Any tips that you would like to share on this? Thanks again for the guide.

Exynos does not play well with this emulator at all.

The one I've put on here is probably your best bet, seeing as I've never used an s7 I couldn't advise on settings but they won't be too dissimilar to this.

Also there's a button for thanks.

Good luck.

 

[dladz]

Updated OP:

Link to all Zei's builds.

Tweaked guide a little.

:good: enjoy.

 

[AlexGremory]

Probado en un mate 10 y todo excelente
En Smash broos ahí si tengo lag

 

[amdultra]

just want to inform with emui 10 + dolpohin mmj last build before it get taken down i can simply run majority of gc and wii title at 2x res full speed using same setting as first post. Altough some heavy games run half speed (open large env games) like beyond good and evil

 

[dladz]

Probado en un mate 10 y todo excelente
En Smash broos ahí si tengo lag

Please don't write in anything but English in this thread and not on xda.


Thanks.

 

[dladz]

just want to inform with emui 10 + dolpohin mmj last build before it get taken down i can simply run majority of gc and wii title at 2x res full speed using same setting as first post. Altough some heavy games run half speed (open large env games) like beyond good and evil

Thts wonderful..

So what device are you using?

Are you using a beta emui 10?

2x Res is a hell of a push.

Especially for Wii games.

Could you share you in file and dolphin version or are you referring specifically to what I've put in the OP?

Appreciate your feedback.

 

[amdultra]

Thts wonderful..

So what device are you using?

Are you using a beta emui 10?

2x Res is a hell of a push.

Especially for Wii games.

Could you share you in file and dolphin version or are you referring specifically to what I've put in the OP?

Appreciate your feedback.

The last built by MMJ, he's now stop dev the built exclusive for mali device, i will try to upload it
Mate 20 pro with EMUI 10 . EMUI 10 Break vulkan drivers but enhanced the opengl performance on par with vulkan so is still a win win situation. Also the skip sync on idle is making game stuttering in some title, ex symphonia.

Btw i also found performance mode in EMUI 10 is a lot lot better, you can use it without fear of overheat. My mate 20 pro with performance with 5 minutes of playing still render on normal temp, it seems they tweak the scheduler , while in 9.1 they just simply push the clock speed to the max which make the phone hot in just 5 minutes

in symphonia i can get slow down sometimes in 720p but with performance on no slowdown and game always run full speed, also i can ruh MH3 in 2x res full speed without any stuttering or slowdown even without performance mode in EMUI 10

 

[dladz]

The last built by MMJ, he's now stop dev the built exclusive for mali device, i will try to upload it
Mate 20 pro with EMUI 10 . EMUI 10 Break vulkan drivers but enhanced the opengl performance on par with vulkan so is still a win win situation. Also the skip sync on idle is making game stuttering in some title, ex symphonia.

Btw i also found performance mode in EMUI 10 is a lot lot better, you can use it without fear of overheat. My mate 20 pro with performance with 5 minutes of playing still render on normal temp, it seems they tweak the scheduler , while in 9.1 they just simply push the clock speed to the max which make the phone hot in just 5 minutes

in symphonia i can get slow down sometimes in 720p but with performance on no slowdown and game always run full speed, also i can ruh MH3 in 2x res full speed without any stuttering or slowdown even without performance mode in EMUI 10

You have a slightly better CPU/GPU combo than me but it should be ok. I've got the latest build. Will have a good look tonight. Thanks

 

[amdultra]

You have a slightly better CPU/GPU combo than me but it should be ok. I've got the latest build. Will have a good look tonight. Thanks

my build is 5.0-11428 MMJ

btw i tested zelda with 2x it constantly run on full speed using the performance mode, before it will become hot after 5 minutes and throttling a lot

Btw the same can't be said for beack spikers, this game run 45 fps on normal but with performance mode it will run 60 fps , unfortunately this exhibit same behaviour with zelda on emui 9,1 it become hot after 5 minutes and minutes 6/7 it throttling making the performance mode useless. I think this is because its a action game so it constantly push max clock where zelda and symphonia only push mere second to prevent slowdown or lag

 

[dladz]

my build is 5.0-11428 MMJ

btw i tested zelda with 2x it constantly run on full speed using the performance mode, before it will become hot after 5 minutes and throttling a lot

Btw the same can't be said for beack spikers, this game run 45 fps on normal but with performance mode it will run 60 fps , unfortunately this exhibit same behaviour with zelda on emui 9,1 it become hot after 5 minutes and minutes 6/7 it throttling making the performance mode useless. I think this is because its a action game so it constantly push max clock where zelda and symphonia only push mere second to prevent slowdown or lag

Previously with the tweaks I mentioned in the OP I had Zelda at a constant native 30fps. Sucks that the page file is on by default, it's just not needed on devices with 4GB RAM and above

 

[amdultra]

Previously with the tweaks I mentioned in the OP I had Zelda at a constant native 30fps. Sucks that the page file is on by default, it's just not needed on devices with 4GB RAM and above

how to turn it off? i m sure you can use the dolphin ini on setting, i was using cheat to remove blur in tales of symphonia before