GCUBE

Open source Nintendo GameCube emulator

GCube is a GameCube emulator for Linux, Windows and MacOS. This is an early beta quality product. It hasn't been thoroughly tested and may contain bugs. Patches and suggestions are always welcome.

Software requirements

• SDL library 1.2.7 or newer (won't work with older versions)
• zlib
• NVIDIA Cg toolkit
• GNU C compiler
• Visual Studio project files are included (compiles with mingw on Windows)

Hardware requirements

• Something good. I'm developing it on Athlon XP 2.0 with 0.5 GB ram and GeForce 2 GTS, and that is not enough for a full-speed game of pong;)
• Video card must support the following extensions:
  • GL_EXT_texture_rectangle or GL_NV_texture_rectangle
  • GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat
    • GL_ARB_imaging
    • GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias
    • GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic

Building gcube

• Before compiling check Makefile for options.
• To compile just type 'make' or 'make release' (optimized) (on mac use make -f Makefile.mac).
  • on Windows:
    • install mingw with msys and libz-dev
    • add mingw32/bin and mingw32/msys/1.0/bin to path
    • download and manually install SDL-devel-1.2.15-mingw32.tar.gz and nvidia-cg-toolkit
    • from command line type make -f Makefile.win, or just use Visual Studio project files
• To install, copy gcube to /usr/local/bin.

Usage tips

• If You have binfmt_misc support compiled into kernel, copy gcube to /usr/local/bin and put this in some startup script (eg rc.local): echo ":DOL:E::dol::/usr/local/bin/gcube:" >/proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register echo ":GCM:E::gcm::/usr/local/bin/gcube:" >/proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register echo ":IMP:M::\x7fIMP::/usr/local/bin/gcube:" >/proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register You will then be able to run gc-binary files / mini-dvd images just like any other executables.
• The easiest way to use it on windows is to make a shortcut to gcube on the desktop and then just drop Your gc-binary files on it. You can also associate gcube with dol / gcm files.

A few notes

• In order to work properly, savestates must be placed in the same directory as the game they were created with.
• Some games will need specific settings to run. Run gcube --help to see the list of parameters. If the game doesn't work, try starting it with hle enabled (-ls) or bigger refresh delay (-r value, eg. 900000).
• GCM's can be compressed with the supplied utility isopack. Compression uses a very simple method but it is quite effective with some dvd images. For example, size of 'The Legend Of Zelda - Four Swords' decreases from 1.4G to 255M. Other files might not compress that well (if at all).
• In order to run most of the SDK demos, a directory containing files needed by the demo will have to be mounted as the root directory of dvd. If a directory named 'dvdroot' is present in the same path as the 'elf' file it will be mounted automagically. Otherwise, use the --mount option to specify the needed dvdroot.
• Only interpreter is implemented at the moment. That means it is slow and You might have to wait a long time before something happens (eg action replay and xrick).
• Debugger is integrated with emulator, so it will always pop up whenever a fatal error occurs. Pressing F11 (or using 'x' command) will run the program ignoring the error (if further execution is at all possible). F12 will quit emulator.
• Configuration file is kept in users home directory ("/home/username/.gcube-0.4" on Linux and "/documents and settings/username/.gcube-0.4" on windows).
• Default keys are

  • arrows - digital pad

  • keypad 8/5/4/6 - first analog

  • home/end/delete/page down - second analog

  • q/w/a/s/z/x/c - A/B/L/R/X/Y/Z

  • enter - start

  • F1 will disable/enable texture caching (slow workaround until correct texture caching will be implemented).

  • F2 will switch wireframe mode on / off.

  • F3 switches between old and new rendering engine. The new one is at an early stage. Some games will look better with it, and others will look worse.

  • F4 forces linear filtering on all textures.

  • F5 makes all textures transparent. use if one texture occludes the view.

  • F7 fixes dark textures in custom robo.

  • F8 enables/disables opengl generated mipmaps. By default, gcube will use mipmaps supplied by emulated program.

  • F9 will create a screenshot.

  • F11 creates a savestate. Savestates must reside in the same directory as the game they were created with.

  • F12 loads a savestate.

Credits...

Big thanks goes to:

• Dolwin authors, org and hotquick. If they wouldn't release sources of their emulator, gcube wouldn't exist.

• gropeaz / hitmen for Yet Another Gamecube Documentation, also to everyone who contributed to it in any way.

• Frank Willie (phx) for PowerPC disassembler.

• Every GC homebrew developer releasing sources.

• Metalmurphy for gcube homepage and EXEmu.net staff for hosting it.

• Adam Green for helping me out with the Mac OS X port.

• Dolphin authors, F|RES, ector and schibo, for the Dolphin sources. It helped me improve the emu, as well as kill some ugly bugs.

• GCEmu authors, Duddie and Tratax, for releasing sources of their emu, what helped in improving compatibility. Also big thanks to Duddie for his work on Gamecube's DSP processor.

• Shinji Chiba for Gamecube's ADPCM Decoder.

• Great icons by rodimus: www.rodimusconvoy.com

Authors

• Monk - Initial work - dev.monk