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Dolphin Gets Triforce support; weird Mario Kart games incoming

VGEsoterica

Member
Ok so the Namco developed Mario Kart games might not be weird but they are definitely a bit bizarro world at least

Dolphin finally incorporated the long dormant and a bit rough around the edges Triforce fork, cleaned up all the code and got it stable and folded it into the mainline branch. If you weren't aware Triforce was the arcade board developed by Nintendo, Sega and Namco that was just a GameCube with a LOT of attachments. But we got F-Zero AX out of the deal so its a win

 
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This is a great read about it from their website.

 
This is a great read about it from their website.

They really do great documentation
 
This is a great read about it from their website.

always love their blog write-ups

Still one of the greatest emulator projects; just incredibly well run all these years. Also a classic worth reading was their original ubershaders release: https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2017/07/30/ubershaders/
 
That's pretty sick, heard nothing but good things about F-Zero AX.

If they could get force-feedback to work with generic wheels like the Logitech G920 and such in future, that would be awesome since the racing games are what I'd care about playing the most from this.
 
That's pretty sick, heard nothing but good things about F-Zero AX.

If they could get force-feedback to work with generic wheels like the Logitech G920 and such in future, that would be awesome since the racing games are what I'd care about playing the most from this.
They've stated they are working on it :)
 
Yes it will be great once we have solid force feedback. Makes such a difference
Yep, but I've got time for the Dolphin team to work on it since I wasn't planning on getting a Logitech wheel until the end of the year.

Last Christmas I got 2 VKB flight-sticks, and was surprised how easy it was to get them working in Dolphin playing Star Wars Rogue Squadron II. All I had to do was combine the two sticks into a single virtual controller, then have the right stick do the analog movement controls, and had the left stick act as a thruster binding the y-axis of it to the left/right triggers for acceleration/braking. Way more immersive imo than using just a gamepad, even if that wasn't the original intended design.
 
Yep, but I've got time for the Dolphin team to work on it since I wasn't planning on getting a Logitech wheel until the end of the year.

Last Christmas I got 2 VKB flight-sticks, and was surprised how easy it was to get them working in Dolphin playing Star Wars Rogue Squadron II. All I had to do was combine the two sticks into a single virtual controller, then have the right stick do the analog movement controls, and had the left stick act as a thruster binding the y-axis of it to the left/right triggers for acceleration/braking. Way more immersive imo than using just a gamepad, even if that wasn't the original intended design.
I've got two nxt evo's so might give this a go (y)
 
I've got two nxt evo's so might give this a go (y)
Nice, those are the same ones I have. I did get the NXT Evo with the Omni Throttle handle for the left stick, since for non space-sim games it is nice to lock out the x-axis, and have it at a tilted angle so you can do the immersive forward/backward thrust control stuff (right stick for the analog movement).

If you ever wanna merge the sticks together as a virtual controller for emulators, I used vJoy to merge them as a virtual controller that can be picked up, and Joystick Gremlin you can bind the joystick buttons to gamepad buttons how you want.
 
I got Mario kart 1 and 2 to work on this new Dolphin on my Imac M1. Runs very well in 1080p too.

Make sure you get the triforce bios. Rename it to Segaboot.gcm. Enable library in Finder, put it in the dolphin map under application support/triforce.

But I run into some problems with other games. F-Zero asks for card cleaner. Virtua Striker 4 game spec doesn't match boot, perhaps I need a another iso there. However, I get no test menu at all while I can bypass the camera error in MK since the segaboot file.
 
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Yep, but I've got time for the Dolphin team to work on it since I wasn't planning on getting a Logitech wheel until the end of the year.

Last Christmas I got 2 VKB flight-sticks, and was surprised how easy it was to get them working in Dolphin playing Star Wars Rogue Squadron II. All I had to do was combine the two sticks into a single virtual controller, then have the right stick do the analog movement controls, and had the left stick act as a thruster binding the y-axis of it to the left/right triggers for acceleration/braking. Way more immersive imo than using just a gamepad, even if that wasn't the original intended design.
no rush then
 
So for MK1 GP Japan iso I found these gecko codes (first enable cheats in Dolphin settings, and rightclick game, properties)

Skip link check

04032410 60000000

Skip boot:


040320fc 60000000

fix slowdown:


041b2238 60000000

These work and make the game boot instantly.
 
I fixed the test menu issue. Don't take a segaboot file from any website, but rather extract it from a game you have.

What I did was, I right click opened this VS4 2006 export version iso (you can find it) in Dolphin. Then you browse its properties, and files. And in the folder Firm you'll find a 2mb segaboot. Take this one to your desktop, and rename its extension to .GCM. And put it in the triforce folder.

This finally enabled the test menu to work. Also bind these test and service to buttons in the triforce control menu to be able to do anything at all.

Next problem: F-Zero AX. Hangs at Motor Initializing.
 
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In 2024 I had the chance to play that Mario Kart game on a cabinet, but it was not a well maintained one, so the screen was very dim.

I look forward to the chance to play it where I can see it better.
 
I fixed the test menu issue. Don't take a segaboot file from any website, but rather extract it from a game you have.

What I did was, I right click opened this VS4 2006 export version iso (you can find it) in Dolphin. Then you browse its properties, and files. And in the folder Firm you'll find a 2mb segaboot. Take this one to your desktop, and rename its extension to .GCM. And put it in the triforce folder.

This finally enabled the test menu to work. Also bind these test and service to buttons in the triforce control menu to be able to do anything at all.

Next problem: F-Zero AX. Hangs at Motor Initializing.
You want to use the MAME dump. Or that's what I recommend. It's a known good file

You sure it's hung? It can take forever
 
I played some Virtua Striker 4 2006 with dualshock. Its such a great series. But they basically never changed the formula lol. I played all of them, starting with the first 2 in the Arcade (VS2 ver 98 i think). Then DC, GC and VS4 in the arcade as well.

I remember seeing VS2 around 1999 in the arcade, and it was hands down the most beautiful football game I had ever seen. The ball in close up and its details, the faces, the huge players.. Remember the norm back then was FIFA 99 or ISS Pro on consoles/PC, or so.

Only I never played the true VS3 on Naomi 2, as the GC game should be a version of VS 2002. And I kind of lost the PS3 port of VS1 with my JP account, its still a very good game.

I like how simple it is; just pass around, and pump some screamers at the goal. I managed a rainbow goal. The replays are really good still. I remember already finding them amazing on DC when I scored a perfectly set up goal.

You want to use the MAME dump. Or that's what I recommend. It's a known good file

You sure it's hung? It can take forever

I think I tried the MAME dump. But what worked for me was extracting it from a game in Dolphin's game properties itself.

I expect a motor initializing fix. As they fixed the card cleaning issue overnight with the last version 397.
 
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Yeah so I got it running, F-Zero AX takes about a minute to boot. Its amazing with dualsense.

I also dabbled with Flycast. Idk why I didn't do this earlier, its fucking A. I get 4k 60fps widescreen in Naomi 2 dumps like VF4 FT on 1st gen M1 if I enable Vulkan.
 


Sure we have a lot of Mario Kart PC ports and Mario Kart decompilations...but why not Mario Kart Rom hacks! Because Mario Kart Wii Deluxe X Version 10 is out and it has...seriously no joke...752 courses...and hot on it's heels is Mario Kart RT GP or Mario Kart Double Dash - Retro Track Grand Prix! Bringing in a ton of brand new retro themed tracks for your Mario Kart fun! This is why retro gaming is making a comeback! And it runs on real GameCube hardware and Dolphin emulator as well!
 
Ok, so how theoretically can Nintendo DMCA this to oblivion?

Dolphin's team works entirely with reverse engineering. The GameCube doesn't have encrypted hardware, I presume the Triforce arcade machine doesn't either. The Wii did, but it was cracked by fail0verflow and reverse-engineered.
Their blog has an explanation for this:

 
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