3D Pinball - Space Cadet Wii: Difference between revisions

3D Pinball - Space Cadet
3D Pinball - Space Cadet
General
Author	MaikelChan
Type	Arcade Games
Version	0.3
License	MIT License
Last Updated	2024/02/09
Links
	Download
	Website
	Source

Revision as of 11:45, 11 February 2024

This is a port of 3D Pinball - Space Cadet for Nintendo Wii. It's originally a game that came bundled with Windows from Windows 95 up to Windows XP.

Current status:

Compatible with 3D Pinball - Space Cadet and the Space Cadet table from Full Tilt! Pinball.
No menus, options, or results screen.
Playable with the Wii remote and the GameCube pad.
Supports sound effects and music (music must be supplied in OGG format).
Some bugs may be present, but overall, it's a playable experience.

Changes for Wii Port:

Used native GPU rendering with the GX library for improved performance on the Wii.
Adapted the original game's binary assets to work on the Wii's big endian CPU architecture.

Installation

Note: You will need to get the original PC game on your own to obtain the assets like graphics and sound effects. Those are not provided.

Wii with Homebrew Channel

Copy .dol file:

Rename SpaceCadetPinball.dol to boot.dol.
Copy boot.dol to apps/SpaceCadetPinball/ on your SD card.
Go to the sd folder in the repository and copy its contents to where the .dol file locates (used for loading Homebrew Channel apps).

Copy game assets:

For legal reasons, acquire the original PC game separately to obtain assets like graphics and sound effects. These assets are not included in this repository.
Copy all PC game assets to apps/SpaceCadetPinball/Data/ on your SD card. For Full Tilt! Pinball, copy all files and the SOUND folder located inside the CADET folder.
Since this port doesn't play MIDI files, convert the music to OGG format. Ensure the music has a sample rate no higher than 44100Hz.
- 3D Pinball - Space Cadet - Name the file PINBALL.ogg and place it among other assets in the Data folder.
- Full Tilt! Pinball - Name the file TABA1.ogg and put it among other sound files in the Data/SOUND folder.
If all steps are successful, you should see the game in your Homebrew Channel and be able to run it.

Dolphin emulator

Setup virtual card:

Obtain the Dolphin emulator if you don't have it.
Create and edit a virtual SD card following these instructions.
Mount that virtual card.

Copy .dol file and game assets:

Copy SpaceCadetPinball.dol to apps/SpaceCadetPinball/ on the virtual SD.
Copy all PC game assets to apps/SpaceCadetPinball/Data/ on the virtual SD. For Full Tilt! Pinball, copy all files and the SOUND folder located inside the CADET folder.
Since this port doesn't play MIDI files, convert the music to OGG format. Ensure the music has a sample rate no higher than 44100Hz.
- 3D Pinball - Space Cadet - Name the file PINBALL.ogg and place it among other assets in the Data folder.
- Full Tilt! Pinball - Name the file TABA1.ogg and put it among other sound files in the Data/SOUND folder.

Configure Dolphin and run it:

Open Dolphin, go to Config, then to the Audio tab, and select DSP LLE REcompiler (slow) for audio to work.
In Graphics settings, go to the Hacks tab, and move the Accuracy slider all the way to the left to set it as Safe.
Go to the menu File and then Open....
Locate and open SpaceCadetPinball.dol (or boot.dol if renamed for the Homebrew Channel).
If all configurations are correct, you should be able to run the game on Dolphin.

Controls

Wiimote:

A - Launch the ball

Z/B - Move the left/right paddle

D-Pad Left/Right/Up - Bump table

Minus - Start a new game

Plus - Pause

GameCube Pad:

A - Launch the ball

L/R - Move the left/right paddle

D-Pad Left/Right/Up - Bump table

Y - Start a new game

Start - Pause

Media

Running Windows Space Cadet Pinball on the Nintendo Wii (Michael MJD)

Known source ports

Platform	Author	URL
PS Vita	Axiom	Space Cadet Pinball Vita
Nintendo Switch	averne	Space Cadet Pinball NX
Emscripten	alula	GitHub
webOS TV	mariotaku	GitHub
Android (WIP)	Iscle	GitHub
Nintendo Wii	MaikelChan	3D Pinball - Space Cadet Wii
Nintendo 3DS	MaikelChan	3D Pinball - Space Cadet for 3DS
Nintendo Wii U	IntriguingTiles	GitHub

Changelog

v0.3

Fixed endianness issues that would break Full Tilt compatibility. Now the Space Cadet table from Full Tilt can be played.
Make text a bit more fitting for the wii by @korbosoft.
Print some errors on screen to better indicate possible failures.

v0.2

The game now loads the good font that's embedded in pinball.exe.
In case that font is not available, the one in PINBALL2.MID is scaled down and has the same color palette as the other font, so it fits better and it's more readable.
Also deleted the font that was included in EmbeddedData.cpp.

v0.1

It can be playable with a Wii Remote or a GameCube pad.
Fully playable with some minor bugs.
It lacks menus or score results window.

External links

GitHub - https://github.com/MaikelChan/SpaceCadetPinball
Open Shop Channel - https://oscwii.org/library/app/SpaceCadetPinball

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 |source=https://github.com/MaikelChan/SpaceCadetPinball
 }}
-This is a port of 3D Pinball - Space Cadet for Nintendo Wii. It's originally a game that came bundled with Windows from Windows 95 up to Windows XP. This is the current state of the project:
+This is a port of 3D Pinball - Space Cadet for Nintendo Wii. It's originally a game that came bundled with Windows from Windows 95 up to Windows XP.
-*No menus, options, or results screen.
-*Playable with the Wii remote and the GameCube pad.
-*It plays sound effects and music (if the player supplies the music in OGG format).
-*There are still some bugs here and there, but it's perfectly playable.
-The port was based on a [https://github.com/k4zmu2a/SpaceCadetPinball PC decompilation made by k4zmu2a]. The original decompilation used SDL2 for rendering, but for this Wii port, native GPU rendering with the GX library was implemented as SDL for Wii is considered incomplete and did not utilize the GPU enough, causing slow performance.
+Current status:
+* Compatible with 3D Pinball - Space Cadet and the Space Cadet table from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Tilt!_Pinball Full Tilt! Pinball].
+* No menus, options, or results screen.
+* Playable with the Wii remote and the GameCube pad.
+* Supports sound effects and music (music must be supplied in OGG format).
+* Some bugs may be present, but overall, it's a playable experience.
-The necessary changes were also made to make the original game's binary assets work on the Wii, as the Wii's CPU is big-endian rather than little-endian like PC x86. These changes could also be useful for porting to other big-endian devices.
+Changes for Wii Port:
+* Used native GPU rendering with the GX library for improved performance on the Wii.
+* Adapted the original game's binary assets to work on the Wii's big endian CPU architecture.
 == Installation ==
 '''Note:''' You will need to get the original PC game on your own to obtain the assets like graphics and sound effects. Those are not provided.
-Wii with [[Homebrew Channel Wii|Homebrew Channel]]:
+=== Wii with Homebrew Channel ===
-*Rename SpaceCadetPinball.dol to boot.dol.
-*Copy boot.dol to apps/SpaceCadetPinball/ in your SD card.
-*Copy all PC game's assets to apps/SpaceCadetPinball/Data/ in your SD card.
-*Optionally, since this port doesn't play MIDI files, you'll need to convert the music to ogg format, and call the file PINBALL.ogg, and put it along the other assets in the Data folder. Make sure that the music has a sample rate no higher than 44100Hz, or it won't play correctly.
-Dolphin emulator:
+Copy .dol file:
-*Get the Dolphin emulator if you don't have it.
+* Rename <code>SpaceCadetPinball.dol</code> to <code>boot.dol</code>.
-*Create and edit a virtual SD card following [https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Virtual_SD_Card_Guide these instructions].
+* Copy <code>boot.dol</code> to <code>apps/SpaceCadetPinball/</code> on your SD card.
-*Mount that virtual card.
+* Go to the [https://github.com/MaikelChan/SpaceCadetPinball/tree/wii/sd sd folder] in the repository and copy its contents to where the .dol file locates (used for loading [[Homebrew Channel Wii|Homebrew Channel]] apps).
-*Copy boot.dol to apps/SpaceCadetPinball/ and game assets to apps/SpaceCadetPinball/Data/.
-*Unmount the SD card, as Dolphin won't be able to access its contents while it's mounted.
+Copy game assets:
-*Open Dolphin, go to Config, then to the Audio tab, and select DSP LLE REcompiler (slow). Audio won't work without that.
+* For legal reasons, acquire the original PC game separately to obtain assets like graphics and sound effects. These assets are not included in this repository.
-*Go to Graphics settings, then to the Hacks tab, and move the Accuracy slider all the way to the left to set it as Safe.
+* Copy all PC game assets to <code>apps/SpaceCadetPinball/Data/</code> on your SD card. For Full Tilt! Pinball, copy all files and the <code>SOUND</code> folder located inside the <code>CADET</code> folder.
-*Go to the menu File and then Open....
+* Since this port doesn't play MIDI files, convert the music to OGG format. Ensure the music has a sample rate no higher than 44100Hz.
-*Locate and open SpaceCadetPinball.dol (or boot.dol in case you renamed it for the homebrew channel).
+** 3D Pinball - Space Cadet - Name the file <code>PINBALL.ogg</code> and place it among other assets in the <code>Data</code> folder.
+** Full Tilt! Pinball - Name the file <code>TABA1.ogg</code> and put it among other sound files in the <code>Data/SOUND</code> folder.
+* If all steps are successful, you should see the game in your Homebrew Channel and be able to run it.
+=== Dolphin emulator ===
+Setup virtual card:
+* Obtain the [https://dolphin-emu.org/ Dolphin emulator] if you don't have it.
+* Create and edit a virtual SD card following [https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Virtual_SD_Card_Guide these instructions].
+* Mount that virtual card.
+Copy .dol file and game assets:
+* Copy <code>SpaceCadetPinball.dol</code> to <code>apps/SpaceCadetPinball/</code> on the virtual SD.
+* Copy all PC game assets to <code>apps/SpaceCadetPinball/Data/</code> on the virtual SD. For Full Tilt! Pinball, copy all files and the <code>SOUND</code> folder located inside the <code>CADET</code> folder.
+* Since this port doesn't play MIDI files, convert the music to OGG format. Ensure the music has a sample rate no higher than 44100Hz.
+** 3D Pinball - Space Cadet - Name the file <code>PINBALL.ogg</code> and place it among other assets in the <code>Data</code> folder.
+** Full Tilt! Pinball - Name the file <code>TABA1.ogg</code> and put it among other sound files in the <code>Data/SOUND</code> folder.
+Configure Dolphin and run it:
+* Open Dolphin, go to <code>Config</code>, then to the <code>Audio</code> tab, and select <code>DSP LLE REcompiler (slow)</code> for audio to work.
+* In Graphics settings, go to the Hacks tab, and move the Accuracy slider all the way to the left to set it as Safe.
+* Go to the menu File and then Open....
+* Locate and open <code>SpaceCadetPinball.dol</code> (or <code>boot.dol</code> if renamed for the Homebrew Channel).
+* If all configurations are correct, you should be able to run the game on Dolphin.
 == Controls ==