Best settings for "Better" N64 gaming as opposed to "Perfect"
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Hey guys, me again!
I solved my issues I was having with the controller, and am now just looking to improve my gaming experience a little more. Case in point - Super Mario 64. I know my Pi 3 is capable of emulating it with some pretty nice results. I'm not looking to over-clock if I don't have too. I also don't want to have it be PERFECT emulation, where I experience tremendous slowdowns. Just something playable that's not distracting. Using the Mupen64Plus-Glid64 emulator, as a standalone, I was seeing pretty close to perfect emulation, despite a low reslution. There were some slow downs, but the graphics didn't break and looked good. Changing over to the LibRetro version though, I had massive amounts of graphics glitches and such. Specifically, all of the color in Mario's clothes and hat constantly flicker from red to white and back again, multiple times a second. It's very distracting. I know the system can do it, because it did it in the standalone.
So my question is.. LibRetro's version has a LOT of settings available for me to tweak. I don't mind tweaking on a per-game basis when I'm ready to play a game. But I'm looking for a good over-all base to start from. Has anybody else experienced these glitches that could possibly offer up a few bits of advice? Thanks!
Who's Scruffy Looking?
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I know the system can do it, because it did it in the standalone.
As I understand it, there's a lot of overhead introduced in implementing an emulator as a libretro core. This normally isn't a problem with the older, or less powerful systems, but since the N64 is already pushing the limits of the current Raspberry Pi, having it run as a libretro core just tips it well past the breaking point of acceptable performance.
all of the color in Mario's clothes and hat constantly flicker from red to white and back again
This is because the version of Mupen64Plus used in RetroArch is from an older code base from the end of last year. Since then, these issues have been alleviated in the stand-alone version. If I remember correctly, it was an issue directly related to the Raspberry Pi and is not seen when run on other platforms.
For better or worse, the standalone version of Mupen64Plus is likely going to be your only option for passable N64 emulation on the Raspberry Pi until the hardware gets an upgrade in performance sometime in the future.
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@hansolo77 the default settings :) i know this seems a bit boring, but for the most part if there's a setting that gives an improvement, it will have already been made the default. the best thing you can do is keep your emulators updated, as improvements (especially with N64) are constantly being made.
Using the Mupen64Plus-Glid64 emulator, as a standalone, I was seeing pretty close to perfect emulation, despite a low reslution. There were some slow downs, but the graphics didn't break and looked good. Changing over to the LibRetro version though, I had massive amounts of graphics glitches and such
yes, this is why the mupen64plus-gliden64 emulator is the default :)
with mario64, the mupen64plus-gles2n64 emulator is worth trying. i think it still has some glitches, and is innacurate (as well as only supporting a few games), but i think it does ok with mario64.
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For the time being, I'm ok with using the standalone emulator. The reason I'm anxious to make it work with the LibRetro core is because RetroAchievements have just started coming for N64, and although it's not working yet on our forks, somebody is already working on fixing it to make it work.
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If it means anything you should try the lr-mupen64plus. I noticed with some games such as super smash bros that it performed better then the stand alones. So it's really a trial and error to get the right emulator for the right game.
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