***Derived and updated from my previous thread on netplay: https://www.steam-gamers.net/forum/showthread.php?t=68545***
Disclaimer: I am not, in any way, shape, or form, endorsing piracy of any kind. If you do not have the necessary ISO or ROM backup files of any of the games you wish to play, it is your responsibility to obtain these files on your own legally. If you require help on how to obtain a backup file of your game responsibly, message me on Steam or Discord and I will assist you to the best of my ability.
Having recently played a Mario Party match with my long distance best friend and his girlfriend, I started wanting to play more and more Mario Party lately. The recent thread about emulators made by @Ryuga was the final push for me to try and get Mario Party shenanigans happening once again at SG.
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A Guide for Playing Mario Party (or other gamecube/wii games) Online through Netplay
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1. Get Dolphin Emulator. Dolphin has gone through many updates throughout the years. This version was made specifically to play Smash Bros. Melee online but can be used to play other games too. [FM v5.9]: FM v5.9-Final (Click on the icon to the right to download).
If you find that your game performance is not great, you can try using the older version of Dolphin Emulator here: Dolphin Emu 5.0-321
2. Grab the build and extract its contents into a folder anywhere on your hard drive.
3. The program should already be fully preconfigured to best optimize online netplay. However, you can still adjust the Graphics Settings to whatever you'd like. If you wish to use anything other than Direct3D11 or 12 as the backend, I recommend using OpenGL.
(You can choose to have memory cards enabled but you must use the same memory card files as the host. However, for this case, you should just disable memory cards altogether).
4. Set your ISO Directory to a folder you create or have somewhere on your hard drive or in the folder you extracted Dolphin to under the paths tab within the Dolphin Configuration settings.
5. Get your LEGALLY OBTAINED ISOs/ROMs/GC files and put them in that folder and hit refresh (if your games are there already, you shouldn't have to.)
Note: You and the people playing with you should have the same version of the game to avoid any complications.
DON'T FORGET TO CONFIGURE YOUR CONTROLLER.
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To Host/Join a Netplay Session
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6. Click on the Tools tab and then click on Start Netplay
7. A window should pop-up.
IF YOU KNOW HOW TO PORT FORWARD OR HAVE HOSTED A SERVER BEFORE, USE THE Direct Connection OPTION TO HOST/CONNECT.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT HOSTING, USE THE Traversal Server OPTION AND MAKE A ROOM. WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR ROOM, COPY THE ROOM ID AND GIVE IT TO YOUR FRIENDS WHO WANT TO CONNECT.
Window should look like this after you choose to host:
Important: When someone has joined your lobby, check their ping.
LEAVE THE MINIMUM ALLOWED BUFFER AS 6ms. TO SET PAD BUFFER, DIVIDE THE PERSON WITH THE HIGHEST PING BY 8. FOR EVERY 8ms OF PING THAT PERSON HAS, THEY SHOULD HAVE 1 BUFFER. IF THEIR PING COMES OUT TO BECOME A NUMBER WITH A DECIMAL, ALWAYS ROUND UP TO THE NEXT EVEN NUMBER.
Example 1: If the player has an average ping of 80 ms, set the pad buffer to 10.
Example 2: If the player has an average ping of 67 ms, set the pad buffer to 10.
Example 3: If the player has an average ping of 105 ms, set the pad buffer to 14.
DON'T FORGET TO CONFIGURE YOUR CONTROLLER.
You can change the pad buffer on the fly while in game so, if the game runs at shit fps and you know you have a good computer that can run the game without an issue, turn the pad buffer up or down until you get 100% FPS again. If upping the pad buffer a shit ton does not improve performance or lag, then someone's computer is an absolute potato and cannot play the game online.
8. Shit on everyone in Mario Party as the big man, Waluigi:
Note:
Quick and subtle FPS dips once in a while are completely normal.
It rarely happens but desyncs may occur. Desyncs are when players send and receive a different frame of the game and as such, are completely out of sync when transmitting and receiving controller inputs. This causes the game to become completely desynchronized as players will not be sending the correct controller inputs to each other.
There is a VERY SMALL chance that the game may desync due to instability as a game goes on. Long lasting games such as Mario Party suffer from this. In order to prevent possible desync, only play 10 or 15 turn games as 20 turn games usually last forever and will probably desync towards the end.
Ping spikes DO NOT cause desyncs. The game has only desync'd if the lobby itself states that there may have been a possible desync.
High-ass ping WILL NOT desync you, it only makes the game run like shit. Beef up your pad buffer. If your controls are super delayed, blame the fucking toaster ass router/internet one of your friend is using.
If you or any other person desyncs before the game starts, a setting is either not set right or your game files are different.
Feel free to post any questions you may have below.
CONFIGURE YOUR FUCKING CONTROLS.
That being said and done, anyone wanna play Mario Party with me or something? Please? I'm very lonely.
Promotions!