> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Game Management

> Managing your game library and disc images in Dolphin

Dolphin provides comprehensive game management features for organizing your GameCube and Wii game collection. This guide covers importing games, managing the game list, and working with different disc formats.

## Supported Disc Formats

Dolphin supports multiple disc image formats:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="ISO">
    **ISO (Uncompressed)**

    * Standard disc image format
    * No compression
    * Large file size
    * Fast loading
    * Best compatibility
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="RVZ">
    **RVZ (Recommended)**

    * Dolphin's modern format
    * Excellent compression
    * Small file size
    * Fast decompression
    * Supports all features
    * Recommended for archival
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="GCZ">
    **GCZ (GameCube)**

    * Dolphin's legacy compressed format
    * Good compression
    * GameCube only
    * Slower than RVZ
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="WBFS">
    **WBFS (Wii)**

    * Wii Backup File System
    * Moderate compression
    * Wii only
    * Used by USB loaders
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="WIA">
    **WIA**

    * Compressed format
    * Good compression
    * Both GC and Wii
    * Preserves disc structure
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="CISO">
    **CISO**

    * Compact ISO
    * Basic compression
    * Smaller than ISO
    * Good compatibility
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<Info>
  RVZ format is recommended for new users as it offers the best balance of file size and loading speed.
</Info>

### File Extensions

Dolphin recognizes these file extensions:

* GameCube: `.iso`, `.gcz`, `.gcm`, `.rvz`, `.wia`, `.ciso`, `.dol`, `.elf`
* Wii: `.iso`, `.wbfs`, `.rvz`, `.wia`, `.wad`, `.dol`, `.elf`

## Adding Games to Dolphin

### Configure Game Directories

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Configuration">
    Navigate to **Options** > **Configuration**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Paths Tab">
    Click the **Paths** tab
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add Directory">
    Click **Add** in the ISO Directories section
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Folder">
    Browse to the folder containing your game files and select it
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm">
    Click **OK** to save. Dolphin will scan this directory for games.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  You can add multiple directories. Dolphin will scan all configured paths and display games in the game list.
</Note>

### Directory Search Options

Configure how Dolphin searches for games:

* **Recursive Search**: Scan subdirectories within configured paths
* **Auto Update**: Automatically detect when new games are added

## Game List Interface

### View Modes

Dolphin offers different ways to display your game library:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Table View">
    Detailed list with columns showing:

    * Platform (GC/Wii)
    * Title
    * Description
    * Region
    * File Size
    * Game ID
    * Maker
    * File Name
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Grid View">
    Icon-based grid showing:

    * Game cover art
    * Title
    * Quick visual browsing
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="List View">
    Compact list with basic information
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

Switch views via **View** menu or toolbar buttons.

### Customizing Columns

In Table View, customize which columns are displayed:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Right-click Header">
    Right-click any column header in the game list
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Columns">
    Check or uncheck columns to show/hide:

    * Platform
    * Banner
    * Title
    * Description
    * Maker
    * File Name
    * File Path
    * Game ID
    * Region
    * File Size
    * File Format
    * Block Size
    * Compression
    * Tags
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Sorting Games

Sort your game library:

1. Click any column header to sort by that column
2. Click again to reverse sort order
3. Hold Shift and click multiple columns for multi-level sorting

## Game Filtering

Filter which games appear in the list:

### Filter by Platform

**View** > **Platforms**:

* **GameCube**: Show only GameCube games
* **Wii**: Show only Wii games
* **WiiWare**: Show WiiWare/Virtual Console titles
* **ELF/DOL**: Show homebrew executables

### Filter by Region

**View** > **Regions**:

* **Japan (NTSC-J)**
* **USA (NTSC-U)**
* **Europe (PAL)**
* **Australia**
* **France**
* **Germany**
* **Italy**
* **Korea**
* **Netherlands**
* **Russia**
* **Spain**
* **Taiwan**
* **World**
* **Unknown**

### Search

Use the search bar to filter games by:

* Title
* Game ID
* Description
* File name

Just start typing to instantly filter the list.

## Game Properties

Access detailed information and settings for individual games:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Right-click Game">
    Right-click any game in the game list
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Properties">
    Choose **Properties** from the context menu
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Info Tab

View game information:

* Game Name
* Game ID
* Country/Region
* Maker/Publisher
* File Details (path, size, format)
* Apploader Date
* Disc Number/Revision

### Game Config Tab

Override settings for this specific game:

* Enable dual core
* Enable MMU
* CPU core type
* Custom emulation speed
* DSP emulation mode

<Note>
  Game-specific settings override global configuration but only apply to this game.
</Note>

### Patches Tab

Apply binary patches to fix bugs or modify games:

* View existing patches
* Add new patches
* Enable/disable patches

### Action Replay Codes Tab

Manage Action Replay cheat codes:

* Add AR codes
* Enable/disable individual codes
* Download codes from database

### Gecko Codes Tab

Manage Gecko cheat codes:

* Add Gecko codes
* Enable/disable codes
* Download from Gecko code database

### Filesystem Tab

Explore the game disc structure:

* Browse disc filesystem
* Extract files from disc
* View file properties
* Export entire filesystem

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Filesystem">
    Navigate to the **Filesystem** tab in game properties
  </Step>

  <Step title="Browse Files">
    Expand folders to view disc contents
  </Step>

  <Step title="Extract Files">
    Right-click files or folders and select **Extract** to export them
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Verify Tab

Verify disc image integrity:

* Check for corruption
* Verify against known good dumps (Redump/No-Intro databases)
* Calculate checksums (MD5, SHA-1, CRC32)

## Context Menu Options

Right-click any game for quick actions:

### Playback Options

* **Play**: Start the game
* **Play (Record Input)**: Record gameplay for TAS
* **Change Disc**: Change disc for multi-disc games

### File Operations

* **Open Containing Folder**: Open file manager to game location
* **Delete File**: Remove game from disk (with confirmation)

### Game Management

* **Properties**: Open detailed game properties
* **Set as Default ISO**: Set game to auto-load on Dolphin start
* **Compress ISO**: Convert to RVZ or other compressed format
* **Convert File**: Convert between disc formats

### Metadata

* **Edit Tags**: Add custom tags for organization
* **Update Game Cover**: Download or set custom cover art

## Game Covers and Metadata

### Custom Cover Art

Add custom cover images:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Right-click Game">
    Right-click the game in the list
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set Cover Image">
    Select **Properties** > **Info** > **Cover** section
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Image">
    Click **...** to browse for a cover image, or Dolphin can download one automatically
  </Step>
</Steps>

Cover images should be:

* PNG or JPEG format
* 160x224 pixels (GameCube) or 176x248 pixels (Wii) recommended
* Named `[GameID].png` and placed in `User/Cache/GameCovers/`

### Game Tags

Organize games with custom tags:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Right-click Game">
    Right-click a game
  </Step>

  <Step title="Edit Tags">
    Select **Edit Tags**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add Tags">
    Enter tags separated by commas (e.g., "Multiplayer, Racing, Favorite")
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Tags can be used to filter and organize your game library. Create tags like "Completed", "Multiplayer", "Favorites", etc.
</Note>

## Converting Disc Formats

Convert games between different formats:

### Using Dolphin GUI

<Steps>
  <Step title="Right-click Game">
    Right-click the game to convert
  </Step>

  <Step title="Convert File">
    Select **Convert File**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Format">
    Select output format:

    * ISO (uncompressed)
    * GCZ (GameCube compressed)
    * WIA (compressed)
    * RVZ (recommended)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure Options">
    Set compression level and block size if applicable
  </Step>

  <Step title="Convert">
    Click **Convert** and wait for completion
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Using DolphinTool CLI

For batch conversion or scripting:

```bash theme={null}
dolphin-tool convert -i input.iso -o output.rvz -f rvz -c zstd -l 5
```

Options:

* `-f FORMAT`: Output format (iso, gcz, wia, rvz)
* `-c COMPRESSION`: Compression method (none, zstd, bzip, lzma)
* `-l LEVEL`: Compression level (1-9, higher = better compression)
* `-b BLOCK_SIZE`: Block size (131072 recommended for RVZ)
* `-s`: Scrub (remove unused data)

<Info>
  RVZ with zstd compression level 5 provides excellent compression with fast decompression. Recommended settings: `-f rvz -c zstd -l 5 -b 131072`
</Info>

## WAD Files (Wii Channels)

Install WiiWare, Virtual Console, and Wii Channels:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open WAD Manager">
    Navigate to **Tools** > **Install WAD**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select WAD">
    Browse to the .wad file to install
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install">
    Click **Open** to install to the emulated NAND
  </Step>

  <Step title="Launch from Menu">
    Installed titles appear in the Wii System Menu
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Only install WAD files you legally own. Installing system menu WADs can brick your emulated NAND.
</Warning>

## Game List Settings

Configure game list behavior in **Options** > **Configuration** > **Interface**:

* **List Drives**: Show physical disc drives in game list
* **List WAD Files**: Show installed WAD files
* **List ELF/DOL Files**: Show homebrew executables

## Refreshing the Game List

If new games don't appear:

1. Press **F5** or select **View** > **Refresh Game List**
2. Dolphin will rescan all configured directories
3. New games will appear in the list

<Info>
  Dolphin automatically refreshes when you add or remove directories, but manual refresh may be needed if files are added while Dolphin is running.
</Info>