Emulator Issues #4848
closed
Read-Only mode problems
0%
Description
Read-only mode is important in the making of tool-assisted recordings (.DTM recordings). With it, you can check what the section you just played looks like and whether it syncs at all. But Read-only mode has been broken ever since it was implemented.
How it's supposed to work:
While in read-only mode, you can load a savestate from the current movie you are recording and it will play back the movie's input from that frame on, until the movie ends. For example, I'm recording a .DTM and save a state in the main menu of a game, now I'm elsewhere and load the state read-only mode and dolphin is now supposed to bring me there.
Dolphin works like this right now:
After loading a state from the current movie in read-only mode, like in the example above, Dolphin doesn't play back input but instead records new input from that point. So it's basicly like "Read & Write" mode, the opposite of Read-only mode. As far as I'm aware, Dolphin will only play back input upon loadstate if the .DTM has been selected to play back and read-only mode was "on" from power-on.
Another problem is that you aren't allowed to start recording a movie if read-only mode is active (before emulation begins). However, it shouldn't matter at all. You should be able to switch between Read-only mode and Read & Write mode at will, preferably by pressing a hotkey.
To clarify, this is how read-only works:
Recording a movie, save a state, keep playing, load the state (read-only is active), the emulator is supposed to play back the movie after loading the state until the current point.
To clarify, this is how read & write works:
Recording a movie, save a state, keep playing, load the state (read&write was active), the emulator is supposed to record new input after loading the state.
For bonus points, Dolphin should preferably show - in the status bar or onscreen, besides the frame count - whether it is in read-only mode or read & write mode.
Updated by multi-ultra over 12 years ago
Forgot to mention, the emulator should deny loading a non-movie savestate if you are currently in read-only mode. This is because, obviously, the non-movie savestate doesn't appear in your recorded movie and thus cannot be used for playing back until the current point (= until the movie ends). So in such a case, Dolphin should preferably throw up a message window saying the savestate is incompatible, and then do nothing else aside from having advanced a frame.
Updated by multi-ultra over 12 years ago
If read-only mode is active, exporting dtm seems to become unusable. DTM exporting should always work regardless of what mode you are in.
Updated by LanceStratos over 12 years ago
Just an FYI, the windows 7 file system is messed up, if you check your folders (program files/Users...ect) odds are they are set to read-only. If you try to remove this, about 5 seconds later it will reset to read-only again. ATTRIB -H and unchecking read-only do not work. Microsoft are aware of this but refuse to make it an issue, many IT Professionals, such as myself, have been pressuring Microsoft, but they refuse to do anything. Most likely because NTFS was made for Windows NT; Vista, in short, rebuilt much of the base code since the NT build.
Updated by multi-ultra about 12 years ago
I think the read-only mode problems are pretty much fixed by now. I'm getting a few desyncs when TASing Mario sunshine, I'm not sure if it's due to a bug in read-only mode or something else, but I'm pleased the way read-only mode works now.
Updated by