Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
→Comparisons
* [[Mupen64Plus]] is a cross-platform, open source emulator based on Hacktarux's Mupen64. Its official release build was in 2015 and is generally inferior to Project64's more recent releases, however, as of [https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core/pull/336 July 2017], the codebase has reached compatibility parity with Project64, when both emulators are run with GLideN64. It lacks a native GUI, instead being run either from the command line, or by dragging and dropping ROMs onto the executable and editing the config with a text editor such as Notepad++. There are several third-party GUIs made for it, of which M64Py may be the most solid. The end-user experience has improved recently with [https://m64p.github.io/ m64p], which combines new versions of Mupen64Plus with GLideN64 and a new Qt5 GUI. This is as compatible as N64 emulation gets as of August 2017, and the package can be played out-of-the-box without having to mess around with plugins. Mupen64Plus has been ported to a number of different platforms. [[BizHawk]] and [[OpenEmu]] use shallow forks of Mupen64Plus and its plugins for their N64 emulation.
* [[Project64]] is an open-source emulator for Windows. Its official release builds are more up to date than Mupen64Plus's, and the most recent one current version, 2.3.2, is roughly as accurate as the development versions of Mupen64Plus when both are played with recommended plugins. It has a more user-friendly interface than the Mupen64Plus attempts, and supports more features, such as overclocking and transfer pak emulation. However, it doesn't come with GlideN64 out of the box, and the default video and audio plugins aren't even the best in the box. It presently remains confined to Windows, though work is underway to port it to Android and Linux. It works well in WINE for the most part, but if you're on a different platform, use Mupen64Plus instead.
* [[RetroArch]]'s N64 libretro core is based on Mupen64Plus and its plugins, but with heavy modifications. It introduces many features and optimizations not present in mainline alongside RetroArch's general features, including Project64-style overclocking for faster framerates, 3-point texture filtering, superior A/V sync and latency, and even an exclusive LLE Vulkan renderer based on Angrylion's pixel-perfect plugin, making it a better alternative to the standalone version in most cases. Its developers have expressed intentions to eventually rewrite the core and brand it as its own emulator called ParaLLEl.
