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The team behind the free and open source GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin have announced a big change to their plans, along with a new much more rapid release schedule.

In the announcement they mentioned how the last actual "release" with 5.0 was back in 2016, and they've just continually added bits to it over time. Now though, they're doing away with that and moving to a "rolling release cycle" as they said:

"However, the purpose of our old stable builds is now no longer relevant to Dolphin Emulator. We no longer need a benchmark to compare against or an anchor to ground us. We have grown beyond them. So in leaving the 5.0 era behind, we are also leaving behind that release scheme and all it offered. In exchange, we're not just giving you a release today, but also a commitment to continuous releases from now on. The long drought of Dolphin releases is no more and will never happen again!"

Now they will have proper fully tagged releases based on the year and month, so the latest brand new release is 2407 that went up 2 days ago. Development builds will simply add a number after for the number of code commits done like 2407-144 and they will continue to roll out multiple releases a year and said they will keep doing progress report blog posts too.

The blog announcement goes over details about why it's not just being called Dolphin 6.0 and to sum up a few paragraphs there — they just didn't feel it was needed due to how development has come along in the last eight years

Also they have a refreshed logo:

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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15 comments Subscribe

chuzzle44 4 Jul 2024
I think I'll quote Nerrel here:
"The Dolphin team could have quit 5 or 6 years ago and it would still be one of the most mature and competent emulators ever made, but the fact that they're still chipping away at it at the same pace as ever is inspiring."
Mohandevir 4 Jul 2024
For my part, I hope for a more controller friendly user interface. That's my wishlist.

This said Dolphin is pretty awesome for my Wii games. The upscaling to 1080p gives a new breath to these games that we used to play at 480i or 480p (with the right cable).

Good work guys!

Edit: And forgot to mention all the specific wii hardware support or emulation that's pretty great (Bluetooth Wiimotes, Skylanders Portal, Floor mat, etc...).


Last edited by Mohandevir on 4 Jul 2024 at 6:19 pm UTC
ssj17vegeta 4 Jul 2024
Not gonna lie, considering Nintendo's recent behaviour, my heart skipped a beat when I read the first words of the title.
StoneColdSpider 4 Jul 2024
Dolphin is a fantastic emulator....... Easily one of the best....... I look forward to seeing more frequent updates to this already awesome emulator......

Also they have a refreshed logo:
Whats changed on the logo???......
legluondunet 4 Jul 2024
Someone could tell me if your USB micro works with Dolphin?

https://bugs.dolphin-emu.org/issues/13451?next_issue_id=13450&prev_issue_id=13452
FauconNoir 5 Jul 2024
Incoming bug of the year 2100
such 5 Jul 2024
Not gonna lie, considering Nintendo's recent behaviour, my heart skipped a beat when I read the first words of the title.
Easiest clickbait opportunity I've seen, and just about everyone reporting on this is taking it. Props to Liam for explicitly stating what's up instead of going for the clicks.

Also, not a great time for any announcements regarding... certain emulators. They're on sheet music now, so it's clear we're way past any kind of reason here. I'd lay very low.
Liam Dawe 5 Jul 2024
Easiest clickbait opportunity I've seen, and just about everyone reporting on this is taking it. Props to Liam for explicitly stating what's up instead of going for the clicks.
I could pull in a vast amount more people and advert revenue and *potentially* supporters with clickbait. But I hate it as much as you all do. I refuse to do it.
Cybolic 5 Jul 2024
[...]
Also they have a refreshed logo:
Whats changed on the logo???......
The colours have been tweaked, the general shape has a smoother curve and the splash-tentacle in the middle of the dolphin is better centred. It's basically a redrawn version of the same motif.

Here they are for comparison (new on top):
Spoiler, click me
F.Ultra 5 Jul 2024
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Not gonna lie, considering Nintendo's recent behaviour, my heart skipped a beat when I read the first words of the title.
Easiest clickbait opportunity I've seen, and just about everyone reporting on this is taking it. Props to Liam for explicitly stating what's up instead of going for the clicks.

Also, not a great time for any announcements regarding... certain emulators. They're on sheet music now, so it's clear we're way past any kind of reason here. I'd lay very low.

The Dolphin Team received legal counsel back in the Steam page debacle and are quite firm in their belief that they do not violate any US laws, including the DMCA.
They're on sheet music now, so it's clear we're way past any kind of reason here.
The sheet music biz seems to be surprisingly hardass about this stuff. Also, it's another oligopoly these days--the big labels each own a sheet music corp, and there's only like three big labels left, and that's about it.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 5 Jul 2024 at 10:57 pm UTC
chuzzle44 5 Jul 2024
The Dolphin Team received legal counsel back in the Steam page debacle and are quite firm in their belief that they do not violate any US laws, including the DMCA.
You only build defenses if you expect attack. Besides, you don't have to breach a city's defenses to win, you just have to starve them out.
such 6 Jul 2024
Not gonna lie, considering Nintendo's recent behaviour, my heart skipped a beat when I read the first words of the title.
Easiest clickbait opportunity I've seen, and just about everyone reporting on this is taking it. Props to Liam for explicitly stating what's up instead of going for the clicks.

Also, not a great time for any announcements regarding... certain emulators. They're on sheet music now, so it's clear we're way past any kind of reason here. I'd lay very low.

The Dolphin Team received legal counsel back in the Steam page debacle and are quite firm in their belief that they do not violate any US laws, including the DMCA.
Well, the opposite side might have equally firm - and opposite - beliefs. More importantly, a dragon-like hoard of gold

I hope that nothing happens, but, as I mentioned, they're attacking people for sheet music at this point. I get that protecting your properties is a huge deal, but that feels like overkill bordering on the Nintendo legal department desperately trying to justify their existence.
mrdeathjr 6 Jul 2024
dolphin devs dont give support to appimage, however if anyone needed can try this:

https://github.com/lucasmz1/Dolphin_emu_Appimage

legluondunet 6 Jul 2024
dolphin devs dont give support to appimage, however if anyone needed can try this:

https://github.com/lucasmz1/Dolphin_emu_Appimage


Yes, they provide packages for Windows exe, MacOSX, Android but no AppImage for Linux users :(

https://dolphin-emu.org/download/

Dolphin developers should be aware that Linux users, like Windows users, enjoy downloading a program and running it directly without needing to compile it.

At least Flatpak has been recently updated:
https://flathub.org/apps/org.DolphinEmu.dolphin-emu


Last edited by legluondunet on 7 Jul 2024 at 5:07 am UTC
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