Mupen64Plus

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Revision as of 19:11, 19 June 2013 by GPDP (talk) (Source Code)
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Mupen64plus-r1.pnd.png
Current version: 1.99.5 (09-10-12)
Active: Yes
OS: Multiplatform
Authors: Mupen team
Official website: http://code.google.com/p/mupen64plus/
Source code: Unknown

Mupen64Plus is an open source, cross-platform plugin-based Nintendo 64 emulator which is capable of playing many games.

Downloads

Review

Mupen64Plus lacks a GUI, so it may be difficult to use without using a front-end.


The N64 emulation scene is a mess. Checking this site and using the appropriate emulator/plugin per game is recommended.

Using Mupen64Plus

Windows:

First create this directory: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mupen64Plus (<username> is whatever your PC name is). Copy all the .ini and .cfg files into this folder and create a folder in there called "save". To play games, drag and drop your ROM into mupen64plus.exe.
To change plugins, drag and drop mupen64plus.exe into Command Prompt (Windows key + R, type cmd and hit enter), hit Space, type "--gfx", hit Space, drag/drop the plugin you want to use, hit Space again, drag/drop the game you want to run and hit Enter. It should look similar to:
C:\Users\PC>"F:\Emulators\Mupen64Plus\mupen64plus.exe" --gfx "F:\Emulators\Mupen64Plus\mupen64plus-video-glide64mk2.dll" "F:\Games\Super Mario 64.n64
To change settings open mupen64plus.cfg, or the plugin's .cfg/.ini file in notepad++.

Note: For the absolute fastest way to setup and use M64P: unzip ALL files into 'C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mupen64Plus', create a save folder and then make .n64/.z64/.v64 file extensions to open with mupen64plus.exe by default. Then just click on your N64 ROMs to play.

Recommended Setups

  • General Use
    • Video: Glide64mk2
    • RSP: cxd4-hlevideo
    • Glide64mk2 is just Glide64 with additional tweaks and enhancements for use with Mupen64Plus. The hlevideo variant of the cxd4 RSP is basically a port of FatCat's MLE RSP plugin for Project64. This appears to be the best combination for use with most games, though toasters may have performance issues.
  • Speed
    • Video: Rice
    • RSP: rsp-hle
    • These are Mupen64Plus's default plugins. Rice's Video is a plugin used on other N64 emulators, most known for its support for hi-res texture packs, now enhanced for Mupen64plus. It is not quite up to Glide64's level, but it does well enough for many games and is quite fast. The default RSP plugin appears to be just a port of vanilla Mupen64's RSP. Use this combination if you have a lower end PC and can't handle the General Use setup.
  • Accuracy/Rogue Squadron
    • Video: z64
    • RSP: cxd4
    • z64 is a port of z64gl, a low-level emulation video plugin for N64 emulators. It comes with its own accompanying z64 RSP, but cxd4 (a port of FatCat's RSP Interpreter plugin) appears to be more accurate and very well optimized. This setup is capable of playing difficult games like Rogue Squadron with very few graphical glitches, and faster than on Project64 to boot.

Source Code

http://code.google.com/p/mupen64plus/

https://bitbucket.org/ecsv/mupen64plus-mxe-daily/overview - Frequent Windows builds of Mupen64Plus, bundled with every plugin. Only the i686-pc and i686-w64 versions appear to work, however. There seems to be little difference in performance between these two.