N64 performance

quicksilver

@mtume short answer: no

A handful of games will run well, most don't run well or don't run at all. Overclocking your GPU will give a marginal boost (a few fps at most). You can also set your CPU governor to performance mode and make sure that your resolution is set to the lowest setting for each N64 emulator (CEA-1 I think). Also you need to pick the right emulator/plugin on a per game basis for best results.

Ranma

You can still have a very good experience with N64 on the Pi 3, it just takes a bit of experimentation and some realistic expectations. I've overclocked mine and bought a case with a fan and have a decent time with N64. Not perfect but good to very good depending on the game. I would add also that lr-mupen64plus works much better now too than it did in the past, so that could be worth installing extra as it doesn't come by default.

KN4THX

Don't forget that you can also set the graphics plugin individually for each game and is recommended in many cases. If you haven't checked the https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Nintendo-64/ page, there are multiple compatibility lists you can browse to get a good idea of where to start on each game.

Meneer Jansen

Pi Model: Pi 1B+
RetroPie Version Used: 4.3.11
Built From: script atop on Raspbian 9 Stretch
Error messages received: none
Log found in /dev/shm/runcommand.log (if relevant): link pastebin
Guide used: this here topic and the doc from the Retropie website and the compatibility list
Emulator: all N64 emu's tried (gles, rice, you name it)

I can't get any N64 game to work for the life of me. I have a ROM image from "Shadow Man" and "Disney's Tarzan" that work on all other computers/Android devices on which I run a N64 emulator. I got Shadow Man to start up once (!), w/ lr-parallel-n64. Changed some settings via the Libretro GUI (i.e. press "Select + X" on controller) and now nothing. Reset some settings to "nothing" in /opt/retropie/configs/n64/retroarch.cfg and now it'll start up again, but to slow to play.

Anybody got some hints for /opt/retropie/configs/n64/retroarch.cfg to speed up N64 emulation other than those on https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Nintendo-64/?

BobHarris

@meneer-jansen Don't you think it's because of your Pi model? You need a Pi 3 and even then a lot of games won't work properly. (The docs say Pi 2 as a minimum, but if N64 emulation is a priority then a Pi 3 would be better.)

rbaker

@meneer-jansen said in N64 performance:

Pi Model: Pi 1B+

"Note that you need a Raspberry Pi 2 if you want any decent N64 performance and even then it is hit and miss."

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Nintendo-64/

rbaker

@meneer-jansen said in N64 performance:

Anybody got some hints

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Optimization-for-Nintendo-64

Meneer Jansen

@bobharris said in N64 performance:

@meneer-jansen Don't you think it's because of your Pi model? You need a Pi 3 and even then a lot of games won't work properly. (The docs say Pi 2 as a minimum, but if N64 emulation is a priority then a Pi 3 would be better.)

Could be. I remember that on my Android tablet in the past a lot of games (i.e. Shadow Man) barely got past the intro screens but when the game actually started, it played just fine. But now I can only see the games screen when I press Select + X. It's "behind" the Retroarch GUI. When I exit said gui: nothing but a black screen and garbled sound.

Oh, well. Guess I should look for PSX and MS-DOS equivalents of the N64 games.

Meneer Jansen

@rbaker said in N64 performance:

@meneer-jansen said in N64 performance:

Anybody got some hints

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Optimization-for-Nintendo-64

Thanks. Overlooked that one somehow. Especially the section "Optimizations to mupen64plus.cfg".

The Doctor

@mtume I am using a Rasperry pi 2, and I set overclock to high and thats it and the games work great if not a tiny bit slow for n64 games.

The Doctor

@bobharris PI 2 model b V1.1 works awesome for me, there's just a little lag, and all I did was set overclock to high.