Changes

{{Infoboxemulator|image logo = Project_64_logo.png|imagewidth logowidth = 93|first version = {{Project64Ver}}|second active = Yes|third platform = Windows|fourth architecture = x86|target = [[Nintendo 64 emulators|Nintendo 64]]|orig-developer = zilmar<br/>Jabo|developer = [https://github.com/project64/project64/graphs/contributors Project64 teamTeam]|fifth website = [http://www.pj64-emu.com/ PJ64-emu.com]|sixth support = [https://www.patreon.com/Project64 Patreon]|source = [https://github.com/project64/project64 GithubGitHub]}} '''Project64''' is an open source, plugin-based [[Nintendo 64 Emulatorsemulators|Nintendo 64emulator]] emulator.

* [https://www.pj64-emu.com/public-releases Public releases]* [https://www.pj64-emu.com/nightly-builds Nightly builds]* [http://www.emucr.com/search/label/Project64?&max-results=12 Unofficial Project64 dev builds.] ** Use with caution, as EmuCR does not test them and sometimes bundle old, deprecated plugins, if at all.* [http://www.mediafire.com/download/61dvb4n9xk25oo6/Project64.rar This Unofficial bundle] ** This package includes PJ64 1.6, PJ64 2.1 and various other plugins.

It first came out as a purely as an experiment for experimental emulator by developers zilmar and Jabo. It quickly revolutionized the N64 emulation landscape. For many years afterwardsafterward, it was considered to be the best N64 emulator, with only Mupen64 and [[1964 ]] posing any real competition. By version 1.6, it was touted as being not only highly compatible, but also the most stable of the lot.

In 2013, however, zilmar, now the lone developer of Project64, released version 2.0, including its complete source code. Quickly afterwardsafterward, version 2.1 was released. However, these versions proved to be a mixed bag in comparison to the older, long-standing 1.6 release, and even the leaked 1.7 betas in some respects. Several compatibility issues were fixed, and the interface was cleaned up, but the default plugins were largely inferior to earlier iterations, and even the core itself saw compatibility regressions in some games. And though the source had been made public, there was no public repository for developers to contribute fixes or pull requests, leading resulting in the project to become becoming dormant again. In 2015, zilmar created a public Project64 repository on GitHub, officially at last opening the gates for public contributions. Development picked up at break-neck speed and has yet to cease. Many of the issues with earlier versions of Project64 have now been fixed. It has been mostly ported to 64-bit, and there is even an effort underway to make it more portable and eventually work on non-Windows platforms.

[[File:PJ64 fan .jpg|350px|thumb|right|A user complaining on the PJ64 forums after installing the bundled malware]]

Up to version 2.2, the official installer for PJ64 included opt-out malware in the installer. In July of 2016, the malware was removed from both the source code and installers.<ref>https://github.com/project64/project64/issues/468</ref> However, version 2.3 introduced a benign but irritating nagware screen that pops up when launching PJ64after starting it multiple times, which grows more persistent with successive launchesas a forced waiting period is installed. This can be disabled by modifying <code>project64.cfg</code> to appear as follows:

{{Main|Recommended N64 Pluginsplugins}}

* It's sometimes troublesome to get it to properly sync during the first few minutes, but works flawlessly after you get it working