nice job with n64

Ranma

@ranma Can you provide some titles which works good? I am concerned about some results provided on Github list.

Yes I'll post up my favourite titles that work well later on after work. I can say to you now though that I set my Pi to 720p, and my N64 runs at 640x480. I find these are the best settings for a decent experience. I've switched mostly to lr-mupen64plus, but occasionally use GLES2N64 or RICE for those titles that don't work so well.

I can tell you off the top of my head that Mario 64, Mario Kart, OoT, Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo Kazooie, Starfox, Wave Race, 1080 Snowboarding, Fighter's Destiny and Donkey Kong 64 work extremely well in this set up. My Pi3 (not 3+) runs at 1350Mhz overclock with core_freq set to 565. I have a SNESPI case with a fan and heatsinks, and an official power supply. I only ever see occasional slow down. Nothing upsetting though, and it is a good experience. Good enough to make me sell my Android console and stick with the Pi solely, put it that way.

Like I say I'll check the finer details for you later and post back. :-)

sirhenrythe5th

I fiddled around with N64-Emulators since the late 90s, starting with Nemu, UltraHLE and so on.
Had a lot of Fun with them, no doubt!
But a lot of games will never work, i.e. those using U-Codes.

I simply love the N64 since i had one back in 1997.
And after years of playing arround with Emulators i decided to buy a real System + an Everdrive64.

Gosh - this rules!!!
This one is not for those, who only want to play Mario64 or MarioKart64, but for those who want to play "the real thing" (#NEOGEO 😊): get yourself an Everdrive and stop playing with Emulators!!!

I dont know the prices for the US, but i got a mint N64 in purple-clear with controller for 35 Bucks, so it is not more expensive than a Raspberry.
With this + Everdrive you can say Byebye to emulation with all its Bugs and speed-issues and have Fun with the real experience 😊

and you can even play 64DD Games!!!

https://ibb.co/gtmS2d

quicksilver

@sirhenrythe5th last I checked, everdrives were selling for around $200+. Then you have to buy the system and controllers. And if you don't want it to look like garbage on a HDTV you have to modify the video output which is also expensive. I personally like playing N64 games on my pi because I like tweaking settings seeing how far I can push a $35 computer. Not because it's the best option for emulation. I could just use my desktop PC but where's the fun in that?

mediamogul

People are always going to have different priorities when playing these games. For me personally, the emulation just isn't accurate enough to thoroughly enjoy them. However, it is down right amazing that the Pi can play them in any capacity and some of the early ones even play quite well. Being as old as it is, the Pi's GPU is likely to get an update in the next iteration and there will be much less for anyone to complain about. Until then, there's still a lot to enjoy no matter what your preferences are.

quicksilver

@mediamogul video core V gles3 GPU running near flawless N64 and dreamcast! Thats my wish. Then everyone will complain that their $35 pi4 doesn't run ps2 and GameCube games well. :)

mediamogul

@quicksilver said in nice job with n64:

video core V gles3 GPU running near flawless N64 and dreamcast! Thats my wish.

I couldn't agree more. That would be great!

Then everyone will complain that their $35 pi4 doesn't run ps2 and GameCube games well. :)

You had me at "Then everyone will complain". ;)

Ecks

@mediamogul said in nice job with n64:

Someone managed to perfect Nintendo 64 emulation? How long was I asleep? Did the 'Fast and the Furious' franchise ever finish its trilogy of films?

You mean their saga of films since there is way more than 3 movies lol.

Ranma

However you choose to approach it, there's always a compromise. Sure you could buy either an N64 plus a load of classic games or an Everdrive, but the compromise is that will cost a lot of money and it will only play N64 stuff, albeit completely authentically.

You could buy a powerful gaming rig and play everything accurately, but that will also cost a heck of a lot of money (potentially more) depending on where (and if) you draw your line.

The Pi is another compromise. It's pretty cheap to get it going, and it plays a lot of classic systems extremely confidently. N64 isn't perfect, but taking into account all the other things it does, the wonderful community, and the general collective ownership of it, it's the one that suits me the best.

Anyway, I generally only play about 20 games on N64 (the ones I have), and the details are below, though my settings were posted above:

1080 Snowboarding - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Banjo Kazooie - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well though the jigsaw transition error is present on the Pi
Castlevania - lr-mupen64plus - runs very well indeed though I've not played a great deal of it
Diddy Kong Racing - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Donkey Kong 64 - Rice - runs really well
Doom 64 - lr-mupen64plus - some slowdown on the intro screen but perfect in play
Fighter's Destiny - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Forsaken 64 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
F-Zero X - lr-mupen64plus - largely excellent with only occasional stutter on vehicle select
Hydro Thunder - lr-mupen64plus - runs really well
ISS 98 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well only some slowdown on cutscenes
Majora's Mask - lr-mupen64plus - runs really well but misses the opening mask zoom intro for some reason
Mario Kart 64 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
ShadowMan - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
StarFox 64 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Super Mario 64 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Ocarina of Time - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Rocket - Robot on Wheels - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Wave Race 64 - Rice - runs extremely well only very rare stutter
Wayne Gretsky 98 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well

To be fair there are one or two others that run OK too like Mystical Ninja and Snowboard Kids, but you may find their slowdown unpalatable to your gameplay experience so I haven't listed them. These are the ones I play and that work well enough for me. YMMV. :-)

sirhenrythe5th

@ranma "a lot of money" is relative imo.
As i mentioned above i paid 35$ (30 Euros to be exact) for the N64+Controller here in germany.
If you take an ordinary black one you can get it for 25$/20€.

The everdrive is about 180$/150€.
Ok, seems much, but its worth every penny in my eyes.
A 4GB SD-Card is more than enough, this one is about 5$.
Buying all the Games would be much more expensive.

CRT are given away for free here in germany, ebay is full of people that are happy when someone takes away those heavy monsters.
So i took two of them and paid nothing.

So in the end i spent about 200€/250$ for everything.
This is absolutely o.k. imo.

Btw, i also bought a second Raspberry which is also connected to the CRT.
So i have got all the classic consoles, Arcade- and Computergames plus a real N64 with all games ever made ready to go in my bedroom.

BobHarris

@sirhenrythe5th There are always alternative solutions..but this is a Retropie forum, so mostly filled with people interested in getting stuff to work on the Pi. :-) I will never go back to those crt's, especially now emulated consoles look so good on an hdtv with a crt filter applied.
I've only got a passing interest in N64, mostly games that are related to PS1 games (my favorite console)..so I don't mind if it takes a couple more years to get affordable N64 emulation on a future Pi. In the meantime I just play the N64 games that the Pi 3 does run well.

DarishZone

@ranma said in nice job with n64:

However you choose to approach it, there's always a compromise. Sure you could buy either an N64 plus a load of classic games or an Everdrive, but the compromise is that will cost a lot of money and it will only play N64 stuff, albeit completely authentically.

You could buy a powerful gaming rig and play everything accurately, but that will also cost a heck of a lot of money (potentially more) depending on where (and if) you draw your line.

The Pi is another compromise. It's pretty cheap to get it going, and it plays a lot of classic systems extremely confidently. N64 isn't perfect, but taking into account all the other things it does, the wonderful community, and the general collective ownership of it, it's the one that suits me the best.

Anyway, I generally only play about 20 games on N64 (the ones I have), and the details are below, though my settings were posted above:

1080 Snowboarding - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Banjo Kazooie - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well though the jigsaw transition error is present on the Pi
Castlevania - lr-mupen64plus - runs very well indeed though I've not played a great deal of it
Diddy Kong Racing - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Donkey Kong 64 - Rice - runs really well
Doom 64 - lr-mupen64plus - some slowdown on the intro screen but perfect in play
Fighter's Destiny - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Forsaken 64 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
F-Zero X - lr-mupen64plus - largely excellent with only occasional stutter on vehicle select
Hydro Thunder - lr-mupen64plus - runs really well
ISS 98 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well only some slowdown on cutscenes
Majora's Mask - lr-mupen64plus - runs really well but misses the opening mask zoom intro for some reason
Mario Kart 64 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
ShadowMan - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
StarFox 64 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Super Mario 64 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Ocarina of Time - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Rocket - Robot on Wheels - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well
Wave Race 64 - Rice - runs extremely well only very rare stutter
Wayne Gretsky 98 - lr-mupen64plus - runs extremely well

To be fair there are one or two others that run OK too like Mystical Ninja and Snowboard Kids, but you may find their slowdown unpalatable to your gameplay experience so I haven't listed them. These are the ones I play and that work well enough for me. YMMV. :-)

Dunno if changed something but i remember severe slowdowns on Super Mario 64 under lr-mupen64plus. Is that setting overclock free?

DarishZone

Sorry, saw later posting your settings, that makes sense, but i'm interested on a list that could work decently on vanilla setup.

Ranma

@sirhenrythe5th said in nice job with n64:

@ranma "a lot of money" is relative imo....
.....................
So in the end i spent about 200€/250$ for everything.
This is absolutely o.k. imo.

Please don't misunderstand. I did NOT mean to issue a judgement of any type. I was simply saying that all these different choices involve a compromise to the user one way or another. Even someone who says "I am not willing to compromise, here's a ton of money for a high end PC", well, you may not see it but this is still a compromise. You've had to hand over a lot of money for that! But we simply pick the one that suits us best, with the most acceptable compromise to us personally. Many would look at my choice and say well, there are Android boxes out there that perform better for not much more money, or that they couldn't stomach these occasional issues with N64, or that they prefer the original hardware. Each of us might find the next person's choice of compromise less palatable than their own. :-)

@darishzone said in nice job with n64:

Sorry, saw later posting your settings, that makes sense, but i'm interested on a list that could work decently on vanilla setup.

Apologies, I didn't realise you needed the list without overclock. Super Mario 64 performs extremely well with the adjustments made. Luckily my Pi 3 can handle it with no problems. I really recommend looking into the settings for a better N64 experience on the Pi, though Goldeneye I fear will never work well on the hardware as it stands today.

DarishZone

I see, at the moment got working right only Mario Kart 64 and Super Mario 64, they both runs decently under gles2n64, the libretro version heavy slowdown on certain areas. Doom and Wipeout 64 also runs well under lr-mupen64plus.
I could see emulation on Pi3 without oc is problematic, will try your list and let you know.

mediamogul

@bobharris said in nice job with n64:

I will never go back to those crt's

Actually, there are a few really nice ways of presenting the N64 onto modern HD screens. Of course, this too would be an additional expense.

I've only got a passing interest in N64

Same here really. I was a PSX guy during this generation myself. It's why I've never been bothered by the cost of a real hardware solution, or the apparent controversial state of N64 emulation. However, for people I talk to who really love N64 games and want a rock-solid experience without worrying about the ever-changing landscape and nuances that are somewhat unique to N64 emulation, I personally believe that a real hardware solution is the only way to go and is worth the extra cost if it can be spent. That being said, I am still very grateful for the work that has been done in N64 emulation and I'm glad to see that it continues to advance.

Ranma

@mediamogul said in nice job with n64:

...However, for people I talk to who really love N64 games and want a rock-solid experience without worrying about the ever-changing landscape and nuances that are somewhat unique to N64 emulation, I personally believe that a real hardware solution is the only way to go and is worth the extra cost if it can be spent. That being said, I am still very grateful for the work that has been done in N64 emulation and I'm glad to see that it continues to advance.

I think you're absolutely right. Up until recently I had a more powerful Android box which was slightly better at N64, but not really dramatically so, and it wasn't any better at anything else so I got rid of it. For the proper N64 experience though, until the preservation scene improves it, really if you are a massive fan the original hardware is the only way to go. But I have to echo your sentiment - I am massively and incredibly grateful for what we have right now, and it is getting better too. For me, just having a handful of my favourite titles playing so well on the Pi is a minor miracle and enough right now.

sirhenrythe5th

What you Guys are saying is absolutely right! 👍😎
It was never my Intention to say "my way is the best, all other suck!"

I also enjoyed all the improvments in N64 Emulation over the years based on a PC.
When i stopped doing emulation on Windows "Project64" was able to run about 60% of the Games near perfect.
But in the end there will be some games that will never be emulated (those using the miracle U-Codes i mentioned) and this is why i said that it is interesting for those who want it all.
Then the only way is the genuine hardware.

But of course i love my Pi too!
Its so great to have it all in one fantastic Interface.
No more changing between
emulators who all look like database-applications!

One last Word to CRTs :
of course i also own a great SONY Triluminos HDTV.
And i even have a Scanline-Generator that i could use with the N64.
But for me (again: thats my cup of tea, i dont want to say that everyone should do so!) the best experience for retrogaming is a CRT.
I also use Scanlines and shaders with my Pi that is connected to the HDTV.
But it is still a difference to the original picture.
Plus, and that was much more importing to me, the input lag is smaller because the image doesnt have to be processed.
You will really see the difference once you try it, it is this one little millisecond that makes you get all the highscores

quicksilver

@ranma I just beat GoldenEye on my overclocked pi3 using the gliden64 plugin. Most levels ran pretty smoothly only encountering slowdown if there was a lot of action on the screen (I believe this happened to a degree on the original hardware as well). Even with the slowdown I found it very playable otherwise I would have never finished it. This is one title that is right on the verge of being perfect. I think if the next gen pi has a better GPU this will no longer be an issue.

quicksilver

@sirhenrythe5th said in nice job with n64:

What you Guys are saying is absolutely right! 👍😎
It was never my Intention to say "my way is the best, all other suck!"

I also enjoyed all the improvments in N64 Emulation over the years based on a PC.
When i stopped doing emulation on Windows "Project64" was able to run about 60% of the Games near perfect.
But in the end there will be some games that will never be emulated (those using the miracle U-Codes i mentioned) and this is why i said that it is interesting for those who want it all.
Then the only way is the genuine hardware.

But of course i love my Pi too!
Its so great to have it all in one fantastic Interface.
No more changing between
emulators who all look like database-applications!

Never say never. Wasn't rogue squadron one of those games? That game was recently made playable in the last year or two with the gliden64 plugin.

HornsOverIthaca

I hope that one day Goldeneye will work well.