Frequently asked questions

Why does Dusk need a dump of my own copy of the original game?

Dusk implements the original game’s engine and core gameplay code, but it does not include the game’s assets (e.g. levels, textures, models, music, sound effects). Because we do not own these assets, we cannot distribute them – you must provide them from your own copy of the game at runtime.

Dusk can load assets from a disc image of the original game. If you own a modded Wii or Wii U, you can rip the disc yourself by following the Dolphin Wiki’s guide.

Currently, only disc images ripped from the North American GameCube release of the original game are supported. Support for other regions or the Wii versions is in progress.

What platforms does Dusk run on?

Dusk currently supports:

  • Windows (x86-64)
  • macOS (Intel-based and Apple silicon)
  • Linux (x86-64)
  • iOS
  • Android

Because Dusk is an open-source project, it may be possible to build it for other platforms and architectures. However, only the platforms listed above are officially supported.

Will I be able to run Dusk on the Switch?

For technical reasons, we do not plan to port Dusk to the Switch. It would require a complete reworking of the graphics system. Additionally, the homebrew graphics library for the Switch is not under active development.

How does Dusk achieve higher frame rates than the original game?

Dusk essentially allows the game to render frames at a faster rate than which the game world updates (or “ticks”). Much like the original game, Dusk still ticks 30 times per second. This ensures that the game feels authentic to the original experience and behaves as expected, which is important to certain types of players like speedrunners.

When the frame rate is faster than the tick rate, you end up having to render frames between ticks – even though the game world isn’t actually updating. Dusk uses information about how objects are moving through the world to create a close approximation of what the world would look like at that moment in time and renders that. This is very similar to how many modern, well-built game engines work.

This approach is referred to by the Dusk developers and members of the community as “interpolation”. However, this should not to be confused with other forms of interpolation, like the “Frame Generation” technology offered by modern GPUs.