pidgezero_one
((((((((((( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) gotta go fast!
Brawl netplay just got easier with an improved codeset for use with Dolphin. This codeset applies character unlocks and default tournament settings, and eliminates the need for the use of save files.
The codeset in its current form is accessible as a RSBE01.ini template (mirror).
Netplay for Melee, Project M, and Smash 64 has continued to thrive with growing communities finding homes on sites like Anther's Ladder and Advanced Brackets, as well as Kaillera server lobbies. Netplay is especially important to those who have no means of attending tournaments, providing them a way to find human opponents without having to leave their front door.
Netplay is an especially big deal for smaller communities, like Smash 64, where its player base has always been spread out around the world with a dearth of console tournaments. Netplay played no small part in building the foundation of the still-growing Smash 64 community.
Brawl, a game that held the console spotlight for many years, has now fallen out of public favour, with many of its former players moving on to Smash 4. Still, there are quite a few players who much prefer Brawl's gameplay to any other installment in the series, but are struggling to find each other and keep playing. The game saw 176 entrants at Apex, showing that fans are still interested in playing when the opportunity presents itself. Brawl players interested in continuing to play their game would do well to create that opportunity by following the 64 community's lead, to build a network of players online now that console tournaments are no longer popular.
Netplay is not without its issues: gameplay desyncs can be very frequent due to the difficulties of save file and cheat code synchronization (so much that at the Smash 64 section of Apex 2015 you could frequently overhear jokes from players accusing one another of "fake desyncing" on console). This is frustrating, as each desync requires you to quit the emulator and start all over again. When you cut save files out of the equation and stick to unlocking characters with cheat codes, you have to deal with synchronizing multiple codes between players, another source of frequent desyncs -- not to mention a source of annoyance in Brawl's case, having to scroll through umpteen unlock notifications every time you boot up Dolphin. Melee netplay tackled this by incorporating a "Global Netplay" code: no save file needed, both players check off one checkbox, and they have all of their unlockables plus default settings to boot. Less setup time, more play time.
No such code existed for Brawl, making netplay a very tiresome process that was often not worth the effort. An alternative exists in the Brawl Wifi replacement servers (Wiimmfi), but Brawl's netcode has always been laggy and troublesome. This past Friday, SOJ of the Project M Dev Team took some time out of his busy schedule to sit down with myself for a few hours to hammer out a global netplay code for Brawl, with the goal of providing the same ease of setup as Melee's code. This codeset applies 3 stock/8 minute settings, random stage set to FD/BF/SV/Lylat/Yoshi's, unlocks all characters and stages without having to scroll through notifications, has a full character select screen with ZSS and Sheik, disables tripping and controller input lag, among other fixes.
There are a few ways this could go: this code set may be released as a patch application, or it may be incorporated into a future release of Dolphin. Both of those options are possibilities and not confirmed, but for now, manually adding this code to Dolphin has so far been an improvement over what Brawl players had to work with before.
So, now it's all up to Brawl players, whom have two fairly reliable options for playing online in netplay and Wiimmfi. Players should join the SSB Brawl Netplay facebook group, #dolphin-ssbb on Rizon, and the Brawl Wiimmfi facebook group to find opponents, and would also do well to keep their eye on Anther's Ladder, which, while not featuring Brawl netplay at the moment, has just added a Brawl chat room to its lobby.
Time to scrape off that rust, Brawl players!
pidgezero_one is a Smash 64 enthusiast who is trying not to forget her roots in the Brawl community. You can follow her on Twitter at @pidgezero_one.
The codeset in its current form is accessible as a RSBE01.ini template (mirror).
Netplay for Melee, Project M, and Smash 64 has continued to thrive with growing communities finding homes on sites like Anther's Ladder and Advanced Brackets, as well as Kaillera server lobbies. Netplay is especially important to those who have no means of attending tournaments, providing them a way to find human opponents without having to leave their front door.
Netplay is an especially big deal for smaller communities, like Smash 64, where its player base has always been spread out around the world with a dearth of console tournaments. Netplay played no small part in building the foundation of the still-growing Smash 64 community.
Brawl, a game that held the console spotlight for many years, has now fallen out of public favour, with many of its former players moving on to Smash 4. Still, there are quite a few players who much prefer Brawl's gameplay to any other installment in the series, but are struggling to find each other and keep playing. The game saw 176 entrants at Apex, showing that fans are still interested in playing when the opportunity presents itself. Brawl players interested in continuing to play their game would do well to create that opportunity by following the 64 community's lead, to build a network of players online now that console tournaments are no longer popular.
Netplay is not without its issues: gameplay desyncs can be very frequent due to the difficulties of save file and cheat code synchronization (so much that at the Smash 64 section of Apex 2015 you could frequently overhear jokes from players accusing one another of "fake desyncing" on console). This is frustrating, as each desync requires you to quit the emulator and start all over again. When you cut save files out of the equation and stick to unlocking characters with cheat codes, you have to deal with synchronizing multiple codes between players, another source of frequent desyncs -- not to mention a source of annoyance in Brawl's case, having to scroll through umpteen unlock notifications every time you boot up Dolphin. Melee netplay tackled this by incorporating a "Global Netplay" code: no save file needed, both players check off one checkbox, and they have all of their unlockables plus default settings to boot. Less setup time, more play time.
No such code existed for Brawl, making netplay a very tiresome process that was often not worth the effort. An alternative exists in the Brawl Wifi replacement servers (Wiimmfi), but Brawl's netcode has always been laggy and troublesome. This past Friday, SOJ of the Project M Dev Team took some time out of his busy schedule to sit down with myself for a few hours to hammer out a global netplay code for Brawl, with the goal of providing the same ease of setup as Melee's code. This codeset applies 3 stock/8 minute settings, random stage set to FD/BF/SV/Lylat/Yoshi's, unlocks all characters and stages without having to scroll through notifications, has a full character select screen with ZSS and Sheik, disables tripping and controller input lag, among other fixes.
There are a few ways this could go: this code set may be released as a patch application, or it may be incorporated into a future release of Dolphin. Both of those options are possibilities and not confirmed, but for now, manually adding this code to Dolphin has so far been an improvement over what Brawl players had to work with before.
So, now it's all up to Brawl players, whom have two fairly reliable options for playing online in netplay and Wiimmfi. Players should join the SSB Brawl Netplay facebook group, #dolphin-ssbb on Rizon, and the Brawl Wiimmfi facebook group to find opponents, and would also do well to keep their eye on Anther's Ladder, which, while not featuring Brawl netplay at the moment, has just added a Brawl chat room to its lobby.
Time to scrape off that rust, Brawl players!
pidgezero_one is a Smash 64 enthusiast who is trying not to forget her roots in the Brawl community. You can follow her on Twitter at @pidgezero_one.
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