Dolphin emulator and magic waving stick. Will they get along together? Connect to Computer: Second Chance Wii Remote Real World Tests

In this post I want to talk about how I managed to connect the emulator of the GameCube and Wii game consoles (as well as the TriForce arcade machine) with the native controls of the Nintendo Wii game console.

Well, I think there is no need to explain in detail what Dolphin is and what it is eaten with, especially since the title already contains the answer to this question. Yes it's an emulator. Not just an emulator, but an excellent emulator. In fact, a unique project, because at the moment it is the only successful development to emulate a 7th generation console. Even if evil tongues say that Viy cannot be called a full-fledged console of the 7th generation, primarily due to technical backwardness, but you cannot escape the facts. Nintendo went its own way and, instead of radically updating the hardware, decided to equip its console with an “innovative controller.” And it was precisely in connection with this controller that I had many questions from the very beginning when I first heard about this emulator. Well, let’s say he learned how to display graphics and sound, but what about the controls? After all, not all games support the classic controller. Of course, thanks to crutches, we managed to find a solution. The main Viy Wimote controller was partly emulated by a mouse, and partly by specially recorded movements. By placing a specially created configuration file in the emulator folder and performing some manipulations in the control settings, it was possible to assign certain specific movements to certain keyboard keys that had to be performed in some games. This is for example shaking, turning, tilting, etc. Honestly, when it comes to such perversions, you have to forget about convenience. I personally have not completed a single game with recorded movements; it’s very inconvenient, although realistic. With the advent of the upgrade, the so-called WiMout Plus, control from the keyboard has become even more difficult, and sometimes even impossible. But for some popular games like Zelda, there are still additional “clicks”. Nothing is impossible.

But lo and behold! The developers have not forgotten about supporting a real LIVE Wimote! Those. yes, you can buy a WiMote and it will work with the emulator! In fact, the article will discuss how to make it work.

First, let's understand why this is all needed. These controllers are generally quite an expensive thing; if you buy everything you need separately, the amount comes out to about 5,000 rubles, which is almost more than half the total cost of the console. Where have you seen a gamepad cost half the price of a console? Well, on Nintendo WiiYu for example. And on Nintendo Viy it’s true that 5,000 rubles costs not just one Vimote, but the entire set, namely:

Wii Remote. That thing that looks like a TV remote control. She doesn't look like that for nothing. After all, Nintendo is now targeting your grandmothers and all sorts of housewives! Such people usually have difficulty perceiving something new and therefore the design of the controller is most suitable for the rapid adaptation of this layer of the population;

Nunchuk. This is a controller needed mainly for shooters sold separately! What? Bought a new Metroid, but you only have the standard control kit? Please fork out for one more thing!

She looks like this:

Touch panel is mounted next to the TV and is used to recognize the movements of the Wi-Mout;

Wii Remote Plus is a control add-on that improves your standard WiiMouth and adds a gyroscope to it, whereas a regular WiMote only has one accelerometer. Used in some good games, without which you will not play them.

Nintendo also released a lot of other crap in order to make money from the unfortunate suckers, but thank God it is not mandatory for purchase.

So, now we answer the question. FOR WHAT! FOR WHAT? Well, why buy all this, when if you really want to, you can buy Viy itself and play as much as you like without any hassles with emulators? Moreover, if your conscience does not allow you to buy games, then the console has long been hacked and you can safely download images and upload them to an external hard drive, launching from it. The answer is actually simple. Superiority. From time immemorial, emulators have been superior to consoles in many ways. And Dolphin is no exception. main feature the ability to render a picture in honest FULL HD, and in addition, with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filters! Oh yeah! Do you keep an old tube TV at home specifically so you can play Viy? Throw it in the trash! Connect your computer to a huge FHD plasma via HDMI, launch Dolphin and enjoy a clear picture and without a hint of soap! Unlike PCSX2 (PS2 emulsion), Dolphin renders fair FHD in any game, while the first, due to the imperfections of the video plug-in, does not produce a clear picture in every game even with increased render values. Of course, in any case, it turns out better than the original pixelated squalor that the iron PS2 showed us, but it may scare away aesthetes. I hope the question has been answered. Now let's move from theory to practice.

So, first, let’s dot the i’s with the question of cost. Nintendo took pity on the poor and released a special kit Wii U Remote Additional Set. This kit works with both Viy and ViyYu (not with the original games, but for backward compatibility, of course). It costs about 80 bucks on eBay, in our stores from 2500 to 3000 rubles. I ordered on eBay. Next is another snag: the sensor bar. The fact is that the original sensor bar is equipped with an infrared port, which you can only connect to Viy/ViyU, but not to a computer. And here our Chinese brothers come to the rescue by releasing a USB sensor bar. That's what you need. It costs about 5-10 bucks on eBay or about 700-1000 rubles here. The Chinese deliver from eBay for free, but it takes a long time. This thing looks like this and eats as many as 4 AAA batteries. A damn short cord for connection is included in the package.

Now let's move on to the issue of connection. To connect to the WiFi, you need a Bluetooth adapter and software for it. I had a stupid NONAME bluetooth adapter lying around for a long time and I made it work using IVT BLUE SOLEIL. Old and time-tested software. The recent problem was that Nintendo released a new revision of Wimotes, which categorically refused to work with the emulator and be recognized by drivers. To be honest, I didn’t have to dig far. Either this problem has already been solved in new revisions of the emulator, or I just started using the correct software from the very beginning, but I had no problems connecting and identifying the device, although its identification number exactly corresponded to that ill-fated new revision. Some instructions recommend using the Toshiba Bluetooth driver, but it did not recognize my adapter and seems to only work with Toshiba laptops and adapters.

A small step-by-step instruction:

1. Install Blue Soleil, connect the Bluetooth adapter to the computer and wait until it detects the firewood. Most likely a reboot will be needed.

2. If everything is ok, we see the Bluetooth icon in the tray, right-click and select “Display classic view”.

3. In the window that appears, press F5, pick up the WiMote and use something thin, like a small screwdriver, to press the synchronization button (if you have an old-style WiMote, then press 1+2 on it).

The device may not be detected immediately, but after a couple of attempts it will definitely appear and look like this:

4. Click on the device and click “Connection”, while the synchronization button should be active and the LEDs should blink. Next, launch the emulator, click the Wimote settings button and select “Real Wimote” from the list. Click update. If synchronization is successful, your WiMote will vibrate and one LED will light up. If this happens you can breathe easy you did it! You can launch games and try to play, even without touchpad, you'll be able to press buttons or play games that don't require an accelerometer. It may not be possible for an emulator/bluesoleil to pick up the device right away; here a certain amount of shamanism already comes into play. Sometimes everything goes right away, but sometimes it takes about 5 attempts to feel a pleasant vibration in your hand, symbolizing that the device has finally been picked up. In any case, if it’s picked up, it shouldn’t be disconnected, although I think it depends on the quality of the Bluetooth adapter.

5. A little about the touch panel, in fact, if it is too close, then the controls may be glitchy and in general everything will work badly. I initially tested in front of the monitor, of course, and was close. But all you had to do was get up from the table and move away - everything started to work perfectly! Of course, there are no problems with the TV either. You are usually at a fair distance from him and therefore this problem will bypass you.

Some advice for hardcore workers. Instead of a touchpad, you can try using candles or a Christmas tree garland, for example. This method unfortunately did not work for me. Probably the candles were somehow wrong. In general, everything was managed extremely sadly.

Well, that's all, I hope my instructions will be useful to someone. And remember, there is a lot on Viy interesting games, which bypassed other systems and despite the poor architecture and the company’s usual greed, the system’s library turned out to be notable.

The primary controller for the Wii game console is the Wii Remote (sometimes called the "Wiimote"). The Wii Remote's main feature over its competitors is its motion detection, which allows players to control game characters and on-screen objects by moving their hand, or by "pointing" at objects displayed on the screen. This is ensured by the operation of the accelerometer and the photosensitive matrix. In addition, you can connect to the controller various devices, thus expanding its capabilities. The Wii Nunchuk is an additional controller shaped like an airplane control stick. Connects to the Wii Remote, contains an analog stick, two non-analog triggers, and a built-in acceleration sensor.
With a wireless Wii Remote in your hand, any game is very easy to master, and the fact that the very movement of the controller in space affects events in the game world gives an unprecedented degree of interactivity to what is happening. The game seems more real, tangible, physically participating in game events, you experience indescribable excitement. Since most Wii games support the ability to connect four Wii Remotes at once, any meeting with friends can be considered a potential party.

If you are the proud owner of a Wii game console, you can expand the capabilities of your accessories. For example, you can use your Wiimote remote as a mouse on your computer. If you haven't bought a console yet, but you want to try playing and experimenting, you can buy the Wiimote separately. However, I must warn you that the price is of this device bites.

So let's continue. The main feature of the Wii Remote is that it uses the Bluetooth protocol for communication, which allowed craftsmen to adapt it to their needs. On your desktop computer It's unlikely that a Bluetooth port is installed. However, you can purchase a special Bluetooth adapter at any communication store. I bought my adapter about three years ago from the Chinese NONAME. The adapter looks like a regular USB flash drive and also connects to a USB port. The adapter usually comes with a small CD with drivers. But, on my Windows 7, the Bluetooth adapter worked without installing drivers.

Let's assume you already have both a Wiimote remote and a Bluetooth adapter. It's time to learn how to use them together. The operating procedure is as follows. First, connect the Bluetooth adapter to the computer. If necessary, install necessary drivers. If everything is done correctly, an icon with the letter will appear in the notification area B.

Go ahead. Prepare your Wiimote remote in advance, right-click on the Bluetooth connection icon and select Add device. A dialog box will appear Adding a device. It's time to connect the game console to the computer. Press two buttons on the Wiimote remote at the same time 1 And 2 . You will see that the blue LED indicators will begin to blink - signals are being transmitted for Bluetooth communication. Look carefully at the open dialog box - an entry should appear in it Nintendo RLV-CNT-01. This is the Wii Remote ID. You need to select the found device and press the button Further.

Finally, we see the last installation window, which states that the process of adding the device to the computer has been successfully completed. You can click on the button Close to close this window. We won't need it anymore.

Please note that the device search process takes a limited time. If you hesitate and do not press the buttons in time 1 And 2 on the remote control, you will receive a message that the computer did not detect any device. Don't be alarmed, there's nothing wrong with this. Run the device search procedure again and try to press the buttons quickly.

Second phase. Using Wiimote in Applications

The first stage of connecting the Wiimote to the computer is over. Let's proceed to the second stage. First download the WiimotLib archive, which contains the WiimotLib library version 1.7, reference Information, examples for programmers, as well as a test application WiimoteTes.exe. This is exactly the program that interests us.

The Wii Remote should still be paired with your computer, as indicated by the LED indicator being on. Launch the program WiimoteTest.exe. A program window will appear on the screen Multiple Wiimote Tester, in which you can test the operation of the buttons.

The operation of the program is simple. You press various buttons on the remote control and see the results of your actions in the program. The picture shows that I kept the button pressed B, and as a result, there is a checkbox next to this button in the program. Please note that this program can also test other Wii controllers: the Wii Fit Balance Board, the Classic Controller, the Nunchuck, and the Guitar Hero Guitar.

If you succeeded, then please accept my congratulations. Now you can use the Wiimote on your computer for a variety of purposes. This will be discussed in the next issues. If you can't wait to try out your remote in programs, then visit the Wiimote Applications page, where various applications using the remote are collected.

And if you are familiar with programming in C# and are interested in trying your hand at writing own programs using Wii controllers, then perhaps I will post a series of articles on this topic on my website for developers developer.alexanderklimov.ru.

This entry was posted on January 10, 2010 at 16:51 and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed.

You can, or from your own site. Most of us are aware of the gaming console Wii. distinctive feature

which is the Wii Remote wireless controller. Today I will tell you about my experience in turning this controller into a convenient, functional, and at the same time very cheap steering wheel for a computer.

The capabilities of the controller itself are impressive:
Three-axis accelerometer
Infrared camera
Bluetooth connection
Vibration motor and speaker
4 LED indicators Connection
additional controllers

For us, the accelerometer and Bluetooth are important. And the procedure itself will look something like this:

Find the Wiimote controller ( alternative name Wii Remote).
Connect it to your computer.
Organize the conversion of data coming from the controller’s accelerometer into a format understandable to games.

Where to get a Wiimote controller

Those who have a Wii console can skip straight to the next step. I didn’t have one, so I decided to buy a controller separately.
In Russia it costs about 2,000 rubles, which, in my opinion, is unreasonably expensive. So, without thinking twice, I went to the Ebay auction. And I was not mistaken! A year ago, a new original Wii remote + Nunchuk with free shipping cost me only $18.50. A quick glance at today's search results shows prices have dropped even further.

Connecting to a computer

At first glance, no difficulties should arise here: the main thing is to have a built-in or external Bluetooth receiver. You can easily find several instructions on the Internet for connecting the Wiimote to a computer.
However, either because of the old Windows Vista, or because of an even older Bluetooth adapter, I was never able to get the controller to work properly using Microsoft's standard Bluetooth stack. But where Microsoft stumbled, IVT succeeded with its BlueSoleil product (unfortunately, paid). Without much effort, I was able to connect the controller and get it to work stably. Detailed instructions you can find, for example, .

Brief instructions:

Install BlueSoleil (or, if circumstances are successful, use standard means Windows).
We activate the Bluetooth adapter.
We press the buttons 1 And 2 on the controller and start searching for devices.
The controller is identified as Nintendo RVL-CNT-01.

Turning a Wiimote into a steering wheel

Several programs have been written for the Wiimote to work with a PC, for example GlovePIE - a universal program for emulating input devices, allowing, incl. connect your computer and Wii Remote using an internal scripting language.
If you search, you can find several such scripts, but not everything is so smooth here either;)
I managed to get the controller to work with a virtual joystick, but the work with the accelerometer was very unstable: you turn the controller a little along a certain axis (or too quickly/at too large an angle/etc.), and it freezes, stopping sending data.
I did not put up with this disgrace and continued my search. After some time, I came across a wonderful .NET library: WiimoteLib. It allows you to access almost any function of the controller and receive data from its sensors. The kit includes an example program that displays all the information coming from the controller.

Let's add a new virtual joystick to the system:

Installing PPJoy
In the control panel, find and open “Parallel Port Joysticks”.
Click on the Add button
Parameter Parallel port change to Virtual joysticks
Click on the Add button
Select the created joystick in the list and click on “Mapping...”
Next >
We fill out this and subsequent windows as in the screenshots, and finish the setup.

I wrote a small program in C#, which, in fact, is a bridge between the Wiimote and PPJoy, presses virtual buttons and turns the virtual steering wheel of the joystick. At startup, you can set the sensitivity.

You can download it along with the source codes from this link: WiiController.zip

Real World Tests

All tests were carried out on the racing simulator Colin McRae: DiRT 2.
I apologize in advance for the quality of the photos and videos: everything was filmed on a point-and-shoot camera five years ago.

An approximate view of the game settings:

And here's what it looks like real game with controller:

Impression

Purely positive! Completed the entire game using only the Wiimote. Everything works so stably and quickly that after a few minutes you forget that you are holding a device in your hands that is not intended for this at all. On the plus side: the huge steering wheel does not cover half the screen and does not interfere with the movement of your hands; all controls are located on the controller buttons.

p.s. In general, you can do a lot of cool things with the Wii Remote, here are some of them:

http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/
Finger tracking, multi-touch board, head tracking (to create the illusion of three-dimensionality, look over the edge of the monitor). In fact, I bought a Wiimote inspired by these projects.
http://habrahabr.ru/blogs/DIY/91149/
Virtual window into the Winscape world with head tracking using Wiimote
http://habrahabr.ru/blogs/subconsciousness/2877/
The 5 Most Creative Ways to Use the Wiimote.