Netplay is a defining feature of Dolphin: it allows you to set up online sessions for any GameCube or Wii title with local multiplayer, without the hassles or limitations of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or the hassles of BBA. It’s improving regularly and GameCube Netplay should be painless. Wii Netplay is much more temperamental and should be treated as an experimental feature for advanced users. Netplay is for the desktop version of Dolphin only. Dolphin on Android currently does not support Netplay.
“The person I’m playing with seems to be moving strangely, but it says I’m the one who is moving strangely. What happened?”
This is a desynchronization. Basically, what you’re both looking at are two different games. See Troubleshooting Sync Issues
Requirements
- The game you want to play MUST be in the game list of all players and/or viewers.
- Bandwidth requirements are very light: any DSL or cable Internet connection should suffice. However, the demands of the internet are increasing rapidly as more players are added. Since the latency (ping) of the Internet connection determines how low the input latency can be, using Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi generally improves the gaming experience.
- Every gamer should have their own copy of the game and the region and game revision of all copies must match. While most compressed game formats are compatible with standard ISO (NKit being a notable exception), it is strongly recommended that all players use identical dumps.
- All players must use the same version of Dolphin. Newer versions of Dolphin are more likely to have fixes for Netplay. Many users choose to use the latest beta builds from the official website. You can isolate yourself from your main Dolphin profile by using “portable.txt” or by creating a special shortcut. Dolphin will not allow users to use mismatched versions for Netplay, to avoid de-synchronization.
Dolphin Configuration
Your Netplay experience will vary greatly depending on which version of Dolphin you use . You are using. Because Dolphin 5.0 lacks so many netplay features, we strongly recommend using the most recent development or beta version available. Dolphin 5.0 will not have Wii Save Game Sync (5.0-8478), Automated Settings Sync (5.0-8502), Cheat Code Sync (5.0-9032), Sync All Wii Save Games (5.0-9037) or protections to recover saved games if Netplay fails. If you want to play a Wii title that requires the use of Wii Remotes and/or accessories, it is strongly recommended to use 5.0-17527 or newer, as Wii Remote Netplay has been rewritten and standardized based on netplay conventions.
If you are new to netplay then the most important rule of thumb is not to change too much and try to follow this guide as it will cover most of the important things you need to know. The following information reflects the latest development version available at the time of writing.
Starting a Netplay session
A Netplay session in Dolphin is started before running a game. You can configure a netplay session from the menu Tools -You can allow external players to connect via cross server while you can have local players connect directly with your IP and port. Note that using the traversal server does not add any latency, it is only used for connectivity.
The netplay session host has additional responsibilities, such as configuring the input buffer, enabling/disabling various netplay features, and assigning netplay drivers for all players.
Joining a Netplay session
Joining a Netplay session is easy. Just set your name however you like and enter the host traversal code or IP address, depending on how you’re hosted. If you’re using a direct connection, you’ll need to connect via the host’s IP address and the port they’re hosted on. Once you have joined the netplay session, you simply have to wait until the host starts the game.
Can’t connect
If you can’t connect, there are a multitude of common reasons.
- Strict NAT – If the host or clients have strict NAT, the server traversal might not work for the connection. In this case, the host must manually forward the port and all clients must use direct connection with the forwarded IP address and port.
- Firewall problems: If the user’s firewall blocks Dolphin and cannot communicate with the Internet, then netplay will not work. If you are running an aggressive firewall, be sure to make an exception for Dolphin so it can communicate over the Internet.
- Version incompatibilities: Older versions of Dolphin did not warn users if your Dolphin builds were incompatible. This means that sometimes netplay can fail to join without any notification. Newer builds have a specific error message for this.
Because every router is different, you may need to refer to a guide specific to your router for port forwarding.
Setting up a Netplay session
Setting up the Netplay buffer and how to use the data tab
Once a session is hosted, the host has the opportunity to adjust the Netplay settings before starting the game. These settings can be crucial to enjoying your netplay session, so check them carefully.
- Buffering: At the bottom of the screen is the buffering option. The buffer is the amount of latency added to the inputs. If you notice slowdowns and stutters even in very low-impact scenes, such as game splash screens, the buffer is probably too low and you should increase it. A simple formula that is accurate for most titles is 1 pad buffer per 15ms of latency per client. Two players with 50ms latency would be about 3 – 4 buffer, while three players with 50 and 65ms would be about 7 buffer. Depending on your computer’s performance (higher performing computers finish frames sooner, which means slightly less buffering may be needed) and the quality of your internet, you may need to adjust this. Sometimes it polls more/less than others, which can cause the formula to not work at all.
- Don’t save data – This setting is when you’re playing a game that doesn’t need save data and you don’t need to record your progress. The netplay session will be completely contained within itself and will not save any data permanently.
- Load Host Save Data Only – This setting loads the host save to the netplay title, but it won’t save any progress. This can be useful when using stock saves in games like Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl.
- Load and Write Host Save Data: This setting loads the host save for the game and will update the host save as it progresses. This setting is particularly useful for long gaming sessions. **Note**: This setting does not overwrite client save files. Your local saves will not be affected.
- Sync All Wii Saves – This syncs all Wii save data instead of just the save data for the current title for the session from netplay. Useful if you are starting a romhack that uses different save data than the actual file you are loading. Example: Project M uses a .elf, but loads save data from NAND with a different title name.
- Sync AR/Gecko Codes: This option syncs which Action Replay and Gecko Codes are enabled between players. Codes enabled on the host computer will be automatically enabled on the clients when the netplay game is launched. Please note that it only syncs which codes are enabled, it will not transfer new codes between players. If this feature causes problems, it may be because the codes differ in each player’s installation of Dolphin.
- Strict Settings Sync – This setting more aggressively syncs multiple settings volatile in Dolphin, such as minor graphics settings, such as internal resolution. This can be used if you have a de-sync caused by a setting you cannot identify.
Network Tab
- Fair input delay: Dolphin’s default network playback settings.This divides the buffer between all players, resulting in all players having the same input lag. Best for games where all players need to act at once.
- Host Input Authority: Host Input Authority mode gives the host zero latency , but makes each player only responsible for their own buffer to the host. Base latency for clients is doubled, but this can result in lower overall latency when playing with 4 players over long distances.
- Golf Mode: Golf Mode is host input authority mode except now you have the power to change which player has zero latency. This is perfect for multiplayer games where only one player is acting at a time. This mode is incompatible with the Wii Remote netplay.
Checksum
The Checksum tab is a very powerful tool for checking files that Dolphin cannot sync between players. It can be used to check and see if each player has a suitable and matching dump of the game that is trying to load. If you have mismatches that you can’t resolve through other methods, be sure to use the checksum tab to verify that everyone’s game (and SD card, if applicable for the game you’re playing) matches.
Other
The other tab has some additional settings that apply in rare situations. These are additional settings that you may or may not want enabled, and some of these settings are accessible to the customer.
- Log Tickets: Record tickets for the current netplay session. It will not work if you change the netplay buffer while the netplay session is running.
- Show Golf Mode Overlay – Provides a small window on the actual Dolphin rendering window that allows you to swap who is the current player which has no latency.
- Hide GBA Remotes – This setting is GBA specific0-14690, Dolphin can use GBA drivers on netplay through the integrated GBA with mGBA technology. This can be used to play GBASee the checksum options explained above for more information on how to detect these problems.
Mismatched SD Card
If you have SD card enabled in Options –