Difference between pages "Ripping games" and "Nintendo 64 emulators"

From Emulation General Wiki
(Difference between pages)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
(No good reason to call Project64 "Not recommended".)
 
Line 1: Line 1:
==Cartridge-based (Up to 4th Gen)==
+
{{Infobox console
Games on Nintendo's NES, SNES, GB and N64, Sega's Master System and Mega Drive (aka Genesis), NEC's PC-Engine (aka TG-16), and other systems from the same era were stored on special cartridges to be read with a very particular pin layout only found on their intended hardware.
+
|title = Nintendo 64
 +
|logo = Nintendo64Console.png
 +
|developer = [[:Nintendo]]
 +
|type = [[:Category:Home consoles|Home video game console]]
 +
|generation = [[:Category:Fifth-generation video game consoles|Fifth generation]]
 +
|release = 1996
 +
|discontinued = 2002
 +
|predecessor = [[Super Nintendo emulators|SNES]]
 +
|successor = [[GameCube emulators|GameCube]]
 +
|emulated = {{✓}}
 +
}}
 +
The '''Nintendo 64''' is a 64-bit fifth-generation console released by Nintendo on September 29, 1996 for {{inflation|USD|199.99|1996}}.
  
===With Special Hardware===
+
Nintendo was the second company approached by Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI), who wanted to roll out their previously enterprise-only technology in the consumer space. They originally pitched their idea to Sega, but it's assumed that Nintendo's offer was more appealing. With the NEC VR4300 CPU clocked at 93.75 MHz, 4MB of RAM,<ref group=N>Though a separate add-on was later released called the "Expansion Pak" that added an additional 4MB of RAM, totaling 8MB.</ref> and an SGI RCP GPU, Nintendo had finalized much of the hardware at least a year before launch, preventing video games from needing drastic rewrites as a result of architectural changes. The development workstations were often Unix-based, something that would later help reverse engineers in some projects.
Special hardware dumping the cartridge contents to a more digital-friendly binary form has been made for older consoles. However, these pieces of hardware have been going out of print recently.
 
  
* Kazzo: for the NES.
+
==Emulators==
* Retrode: for the SNES and Sega Mega Drive. Third-party physical plug-ins add more systems, including the GB, GBA, N64, VB; Sega's Master System, Pico; NEC's PC-Engine; Atari 2600 and more. A NES add-on was said to be under development.
+
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 +
! scope="col"|Name
 +
! scope="col"|Platform(s)
 +
! scope="col"|Latest Version
 +
! scope="col"|Controller Pak
 +
! scope="col"|Rumble Pak
 +
! scope="col"|Transfer Pak
 +
! scope="col"|64DD
 +
! scope="col"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]
 +
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
 +
! scope="col"|Active
 +
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="12"|PC / x86
 +
|-
 +
|[[m64p]] (ParaLLEl)
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
 +
|[https://github.com/loganmc10/m64p/releases/latest git]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|m64p (Final GLideN64)
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 +
|[https://github.com/loganmc10/m64p/releases/tag/v2021.5.30 Final GLideN64]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|ParaLLEl
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 +
|[https://www.retroarch.com/ 2.0-rc2]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}*
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Project64]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[https://github.com/project64/project64/releases {{Project64Ver}}]<br >[https://www.pj64-emu.com/nightly-builds Dev]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[RMG]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
 +
|[https://ci.appveyor.com/project/rosalie241/rmg/build/artifacts git]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{~}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[ares]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 +
|[https://ares.dev/ Official]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{~}}
 +
|{{~}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{~}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[CEN64]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 +
|[https://github.com/tj90241/cen64 git]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{~}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Mupen64Plus]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 +
|[https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core/releases git]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{~}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Project64 Netplay]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[https://pj64netplay-emu.ml/download.html {{Project64NetplayVer}}]
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[BizHawk]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[http://tasvideos.org/BizHawk/ReleaseHistory.html {{BizHawkVer}}]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[1964]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[http://www.emulation64.com/files/getfile/936/ 1.1] (Official)<br />[http://files.emulation64.fr/Emulateurs/EMU_1964_146.zip 1.2 r146] (Unofficial SVN)
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[DaedalusX64]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://github.com/DaedalusX64/daedalus/releases/latest git]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Sixtyforce]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
 +
|[http://sixtyforce.com/download/ {{SixtyforceVer}}]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|Larper64
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 +
|[https://thirdworld.dev/ {{Larper64Ver}}]
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[UltraHLE]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[https://web.archive.org/web/20070312015944/http://www.emuunlim.com/UltraHLE/ultrahle.zip 1.0]
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[MAME]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 +
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Ryu64]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 +
|[https://github.com/Ryu64Emulator/Ryu64 git]
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|R64Emu
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 +
|[https://github.com/rasky/r64emu git]
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="12"|Mobile / ARM
 +
|-
 +
|[[Mupen64Plus]] FZ
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
 +
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mupen64plusae.v3.fzurita 3.0.286 (beta)]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Mupen64Plus]]-pandora
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Pandora}}
 +
|[https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/mupen64plus-2-2.72661/ Build 21] (v2.2)
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|?
 +
|?
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="12"|Consoles
 +
|-
 +
|[[Virtual Console]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Wii|WiiU}}
 +
|N/A
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|Surreal64 CE
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Xbox}}
 +
|[https://digiex.net/threads/surreal64-ce-b6-0-download-n64-emulator-for-xbox.13677 Beta 6.0]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|mupen64-360
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Xbox360}}
 +
|[https://digiex.net/threads/mupen64-360-xbox-360-nintendo-64-n64-emulator-download.9352 0.96 beta]
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|Not64
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|GCN|Wii}}
 +
|[https://github.com/Extrems/Not64/releases/latest git]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|DaedalusX64
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|PSP|3DS}}<br>{{Icon|Vita|PS2}}
 +
|[https://github.com/DaedalusX64/daedalus/releases/latest git], [https://github.com/masterfeizz/DaedalusX64-3DS/releases 3DS git]<br>[https://github.com/Rinnegatamante/DaedalusX64-vitaGL/releases vitaGL git], [https://www.ps2-home.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=99&p=39957#p39957 PS2]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{~}}
 +
|-
 +
|[https://code.google.com/p/mupen64gc/ Wii64]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|GCN|Wii}}
 +
|[https://code.google.com/archive/p/mupen64gc/downloads 1.1 beta]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|}
  
Bear in mind that when trying to dump cartridge games, there's a significant risk of having corrupt sectors in the resulting dump. If you're using your DIY adapters but don't know what you are doing, there's a risk of damaging the original cartridge.
+
<nowiki>* Available exclusively as a libretro core</nowiki>
  
Newer systems using game cards such as the DS and 3DS have other solutions relying either on recent dedicated hardware, or homebrew under a compromised system.
+
===Comparisons===
 +
Although many Nintendo 64 emulators have been made and many games can be run between them, complete compatibility and/or accuracy still leaves a bit to be desired. For half a decade, Mupen64Plus and Project64 have vied for the most playable emulator, and which has been more compatible has depended on when and in what configuration each emulator has been tested. Both emulators default to lackluster plugins, but, as of August 2017, both emulators have roughly equal graphical accuracy when running with GLideN64.
  
===Ripping From Emulated Releases===
+
;[[Mupen64Plus]]:A multi-platform emulator based on Hacktarux's Mupen64. It's about as accurate as Project64,<ref>loganmc10. [https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core/pull/336 ''Ignore TLB write if TLB entry is unmapping itself'']. "By the way, once this, along with the other PR's I have waiting are merged, we are at "compatibility parity" with Project64 as far as I can tell. I don't know of any game that doesn't boot with mupen64plus that works in PJ64."</ref> when both emulators are run with GLideN64. However, Mupen64Plus lacks a native GUI, instead being launched either from the command line or by dragging and dropping ROMs onto the executable and editing the config with a text editor. [[BizHawk]] and [[OpenEmu]] use forks of Mupen64Plus and its plugins for their N64 emulation, but they seem to be shallow.
Sometimes the companies re-release the games digitally, as a wrapper containing an emulator and the ROM. Depending on the company, the ROM may or may not be directly playable in regular emulators. You can extract those ROMs and play them without having to go to shady sites nor tracking expensive cartridges and potentially breaking them in the ripping process. And you get to support the company who made the stuff you love, instead of resellers hoarding second-hand game copies.
 
 
====Virtual Console (Wii, Wii U, 3DS)====
 
The Wii VC releases are most of the time ready to work in emulators. In fact, Nintendo was so kind they even included the iNES headers in NES roms (16 bytes in the beginning of the ROM that are not part of the original cart data yet the emulator needs them to know which mapper it is and run the game at all). You can even replace the ROM with one from the same system from your choice, and get it to run if Nintendo's emulators are compatible.
 
  
Some Virtual Console versions have been enhanced or modified compared to the original release.  
+
:;ParaLLEl:A heavily-modified fork developed as a [[libretro]] core. It introduces many features and optimizations not present in mainline alongside [[RetroArch]]'s general features, including Project64-style overclocking for faster frame rates, 3-point texture filtering, superior A/V sync and latency, and even an exclusive LLE Vulkan renderer based on Angrylion's pixel-perfect RDP plugin, making it a better alternative to the standalone version in some cases, especially if accuracy is the goal. ParaLLEl has a special "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzR93F9gPdc Super VI Mode]" option which, if used, can make the visuals of N64 games look less blurry with fairly mitigated jaggies even at their native resolutions. Although, it may need a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7_D_D419S0 powerful GPU]. It also offers native high resolution rendering, only available in integer scales of the original N64 resolution.
  
While some just modify the ROM directly (like Monster World IV's English translation), other modifications rely on real-time patching by patch files included with the ROM (like Romancing SaGa 2's extra dungeons). The anti-seizure effects and texture enhancements are most of the time tied to the VC emulator.
+
:;[[m64p]]:Probably the easiest "out of the box" solution for Nintendo 64 emulation. It comes with Parallel RDP, as well as its own custom GUI and input plugin.
  
Also, Super Nintendo ROMs have their SPC sound data blanked in the ROM and stored in a separate file, meaning the ROM dump is incomplete for these. And you might need a byteswapper tool for N64 games.
+
:;[[RMG]]:Rosalie's Mupen GUI was a project aiming to close the gap between Project64 and Mupen64Plus in terms of user experience. However, as of 9th of January 2021 the project have now been archived by the owner putting the work on it on hold indefinitely.
  
'''For Wii VC:'''
+
:;Wii64 and Not64:Both are based on Mupen64, with Not64 being a fork of Wii64. Not64 claims to be better optimized as well as having higher compatibility and more frequent updates. N64 emulation on Wii is not very good, and it is recommended to stick with the Virtual Console releases whenever possible.
* Get ShowMiiWads.exe and select "I accept and take the risk of WAD editing features". Go to Tools/Create Common-Key and type in the text it asks you for.  
 
* You need a wad file of the VC app.
 
* If you don't have a wad file yet, you can get it from a NAND dump extracted off your Wii with dedicated homebrew apps (changing it and reinserting it in the Wii could be dangerous if you don't know what are you doing, that was what the disclaimer was for, it's not relevant here though). In ShowMiiWads, click Options/Change NAND Backup Path, then click View/ShowMiiNand, and then on the file with the name of the game right-click and click Pack Wad. The you click again View/ShowMiiNand.
 
* Now that you have the wad file, go to File/Open Folder and where the wad file is.
 
* Right-click, Extract/To Folder.
 
* You go to the newly created folder, and you'll find lots of files. Chances are the biggest "app" file has the emulator and ROM data. It's usually "00000005.app" for MSX/GEN/N64 roms. In the utility, load it and click Tools/Unpack U8 Archive.
 
  
Congrats! You should have the ROM somewhere in there. Check the file sizes and name for hints and find out which one it is, it's part of the fun.
+
;[[Project64]]:An open-source emulator for Windows. Its official release builds are more up-to-date than Mupen64Plus', and the current version, 3.0.1, 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. It does come with GLideN64 out-of-the-box, but the default audio plugin isn't even the best in the box. For the most part, it works well in [[Wine]], but, if you're on a different platform, use Mupen64Plus instead.
  
However! Some post-2010 ROMs give inside another compressed "romc" file. That's the ROM, but compressed. You'll need the romc command-line decompression tool, following the commands:<br/>cd C:/romfolder/<br/>romc d C:/romfolder/romc C:/extractionfolder/customromname.extension
+
;[[CEN64]]:Aims for cycle accuracy while, at the same time, aiming to eventually be usable on modern PC hardware. It currently lacks many features and has spotty compatibility, but it's gradually improving. It can already emulate some well-known edge cases such as the picture recognition in Pokemon Snap.
  
[https://gist.github.com/Prof9/ed3d0e70d8f8a3116a5f5db29b54873d Here] is how to dump GBA images off Wii U's VC and unscramble the resulting ROM images to something playable on emulators.
+
;[[1964]]:Along with its various versions and forks, it was once a decent, speedy open-source alternative to Project64 and Mupen64, though it usually lagged behind the two compatibility-wise. Nowadays it has completely fallen off the radar as development has halted, and there is no longer a central code repo to speak of. There is little reason to use it nowadays outside of historical purposes, very specific edge cases, or if your device is too slow to run Mupen64Plus or Project64.
  
====Various Compilations====
+
;Daedalus:is an Nintendo 64 emulator for PC which was ported to the PSP under the name of DaedalusX64. The PSP version later became the main version and got ported to platforms such as the Dreamcast, the PS2, the PS Vita and the 3DS. On PSP, several games are able to reach full speed and most of them work with few emulation issues.
* Sega Ages - MD
 
* Sega Mega Collection (multiple systems) - MD
 
* Sega I Love Mickey Mouse (Saturn) - MD - ROM divided
 
* Animal Crossing GC - NES/SNES
 
* Zelda Collector Disk GC - NES/N64 (includes 60Hz PAL OoT/MQ/MM versions)
 
* Konami Twinbee Collection - SNES - ROM divided
 
* Rare Replay
 
  
==Sony PlayStation 1/2==
+
;[[Sixtyforce]]:is macOS-only, closed-source, and asks you to pay for full access to its features. It was once one of the only choices for Mac users, particularly those with older Macs, since it's the only emulator with a <abbr title="Power PC">PPC</abbr> [[Dynamic recompilation|dynarec]]), but, with the switch to x86 and Mupen64Plus being ported to macOS, it has now become less relevant. However, development is still on ongoing, and is currently in its [https://sixtyforce.com/rosetta/ third rewrite] to support the upcoming [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple-designed_processors Apple Silicon].
===With A PC's Optical Drive===
 
Windows: Use [http://imgburn.com/index.php?act=download ImgBurn]
 
  
It will ask you to install toolbars and other junk, choose custom installation, and deselect them. It does not install them if you say no like other programs.
+
;[[UltraHLE]]:marked a milestone in Nintendo 64 emulation, in that it was the first to play some popular N64 titles at full speed on hardware made at the time of its release through [[High/Low level emulation|high-level emulation]]; it isn't without its drawbacks though - pressure from users, combined with legal threats from Nintendo, forced them to discontinue development. Besides being for historical value, there's not much to expect from this emulator anyway due to compatibility issues.
  
#Put your PS1 or PS2 disc into your computer.
+
;[[Ryu64]]:is a Nintendo 64 emulator made in C#. The 'Ryu' word is named after the "RyuJIT" used in both Visual Basic & C#. But it might have been inspired by the lead author's sole (so far) [https://github.com/Ryujinx/Ryujinx/commits?author=Dudejoe870 commit] at Switch emulator, [[Ryujinx]]'s Git repository and his depreciated [https://github.com/Dudejoe870/RyujinxAutoUpdate Ryujinx Auto Updater] tool. "86RYU", a x86 JIT compiler, is being developed alongside this emulator too.
#Open ImgBurn
 
#Click Mode>Read
 
#Choose the destination of the file, by clicking the little folder+magnifying glass button.
 
#Click the CD button at the bottom.
 
#Wait for it to finish ripping.
 
#Play ISO in whatever emulator you use
 
  
For PS1 games, make sure you rip the disc as a BIN+CUE rather than a single ISO file.
+
==Emulation issues==
 +
{{Main|Recommended N64 plugins}}
  
While you can play PS1/PS2 discs directly from your PC's optical drive in some emulators (ePSXe and older mednafen releases for PS1, PCSX2 for PS2) it wears the disc and the optical drive the longer you use it, hence why it's not recommended.  
+
The Nintendo 64 emulation scene can be described as a hot mess. It got to that point because of the overall emulation scene's climate in the early days, which was to stub off certain components of the emulated hardware as plugins. (Other consoles weren't immune to this phenomenon; it also happened to [[PlayStation emulators|the first PlayStation]].) Developers underestimated the complexity of the system, and with little demand for improvements beyond getting the popular titles working from beginning to end, most emulator developers stuck with the codebases they knew for as long as possible and never integrated any of the plugins that were needed to make up a full project, or merge their codebases into one project. And because almost no documentation is available for clean-room reverse engineers, figuring out how the hardware actually functioned had to be done manually, which took longer. The unfortunate result of this is that many games require specific plugin arrangements and specific emulators in order to run well, and there is no viable alternative that isn't just an iteration on the existing plugin-based emulators.
  
===Ripping From Emulated Releases===
+
===[[High/Low level emulation|High-level vs. low-level]] graphics===
Sony made the hard part of game ripping already for you, so why not go for those instead to dump your game images from?
 
  
====PS Classics (PS1C PSP, PS1C PS3, PS2C PS3)====
+
One of the biggest hurdles to emulating the Nintendo 64 is the Reality Display Processor (RDP), one of two components in the Reality Coprocessor made by SGI. The Reality Display Processor was the most powerful consumer-grade GPU at the time of the console's release; this was a selling point that Nintendo wanted to emphasize as a result of working with SGI. However, reverse engineering efforts for popular Nintendo 64 games showed that Nintendo's software development kit included a common microcode for the RDP. It's possible Nintendo didn't want to give developers access at a lower level out of fears that doing so would damage consumer units, but that meant most of the effort spent emulating the RDP would go towards figuring out how to handle the microcode.
Sony also has a digital distribution service for their old PS1 and PS2 games. The selection is limited considering Sony prohibits any kind of modification to the ISO data compared
 
  
'''For PS1 Classics on PSP:''' Rip the EBOOT.PBP file. It can be directly opened in some emulators like PCSX-R. Its ISO can also be extracted with other tools.
+
* Most developers in 1999 and the early 2000s opted to approximate functions through various APIs such as Direct3D, OpenGL, and even Glide. While this resulted in much more reasonable system requirements for emulation, along with prettier, higher resolution graphics, this method proved to be hit and miss, often requiring per-game tweaks and settings to prevent graphical glitches on many games. Some games flat out didn't work, because it wasn't clear what the microcode did or why, and required extensive hardware testing.
 +
* On the low level side, developers would either completely emulate the RDP or autodetect the microcode and use an appropriate implementation for the game. The former would mean a software renderer accurate to the hardware but major performance bottlenecks unless optimizations like vectorization and multi-threading were implemented. The latter would mean faster performance but developers would still have to figure out how to account for edge cases.
  
==Sega CD / Saturn / Dreamcast==
+
gonetz and one or two assistants have spent a large portion of development improving GlideN64's handling of microcode throughout 2016-2018.<ref name="gliden64_blog-1">{{cite web|url=https://gliden64.blogspot.com/2017/|title=Public Release 3.0|publisher=Blogspot|accessdate=2018-06-17|date=2017-12-29}}</ref><ref name="ZSortBOSS">{{cite web|url=https://github.com/gonetz/GLideN64/issues/1685#issuecomment-364436534|title=Initial implementation of BOSS ZSort ucode (WDC, Stunt Racer)|publisher=GitHub|accessdate=2018-06-17|date=2018-02-10}}</ref> This means that [https://youtu.be/HfCOnmRHI0o Factor 5]'s games are now working in the high-level graphics mode.<ref name="Indiegogo">{{cite web|url=https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/indiana-j-infernal-machine-high-level-emulation#/updates/all|title="Indiana J. & Infernal Machine" HLE|publisher=Indiegogo|accessdate=2018-06-17|date=2018-05-17}}</ref><ref name="gliden64_blog-2">{{cite web|url=https://gliden64.blogspot.com/2018/05/hle-implementation-of-microcodes-for.html|title=HLE implementation of microcodes for "Indiana Jones" and "Battle for Naboo" completed.|publisher=Blogspot|accessdate=2018-06-17|date=2018-05-26}}</ref> Other games may still have issues with RDP quirks like frame buffer/depth buffer access (issues with how the frame buffer is used as well as performance issues), VI emulation, and how combine/blending modes are emulated (such as noise issues and combiner accuracy).
For the Sega Saturn, see Playstation 1.  
 
  
Sega Dreamcast game ripping can be done from a Dreamcast using the Dreamshell SD card reader, or using a BroadBand adapter. (to be added)
+
It should be noted that most games technically work through the HLE method, but it's not an accurate representation of what the video output actually looked like, but rather a rough approximation by your graphics card. Whether this is an improvement or not is subjective.
 +
<gallery widths="300" mode="packed">
 +
Majora's mask accurate.png|Low level emulation of Majora's Mask using SoftGraphic
 +
Project64 2013-07-26 14-20-17-55.png|High level emulation of Majora's Mask using Jabo's Direct3D
 +
</gallery>
  
==GameCube/Wii==
+
===[[Texture filtering]]===
===With a PC's Optical Drive===
+
The Nintendo 64 was the first consumer device to be able to filter textures when rendering 3D objects. However, unlike every console and PC graphics card made after the N64, its implementation of bilinear was primitive in that, in order to reduce strain on the system, it only used three samples as opposed to four, resulting in slightly jagged textures. Instead of faithfully applying this "imperfect" version of bilinear filtering, HLE plugins instead apply conventional filtering, interpolating straight from the source texture up to the output resolution the same way a PC game would. While that method is technically superior, it can result in textures that look even blurrier than on real hardware.
Only some out-of-print models of DVD drives may read GC and Wii discs, mainly from LG (compatibility list [https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-howto-dump-wii-or-gamecube-games-with-pc-no-wii-needed here]). Even then, Windows won't recognize the disc as valid. You'll need a tool like Rawdump or Friidump to dump it. Make sure you convert the dump to ISO format.
 
  
===With Homebrew===
+
Another issue lies with the appliance of texture filtering per quad on static images, text, and sprites. Because each quad is filtered separately, this can cause some visual inconsistencies. Text and UI elements often look as though their edges cut off abruptly, and static images, such as pre-rendered backgrounds or menu screens, may look as though they are separated into squares. Some plugins allow the user to turn off texture filtering to remedy this, but, unfortunately, this also applies to textures in the game world, exposing their oftentimes low resolutions.
For the GC and Wii, use [http://wiibrew.org/wiki/CleanRip CleanRip].
 
  
You'll need a Wii with homebrew channel installed, so if you don't have homebrew already, go [http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Homebrew_setup here] check which homebrew installation method works for what System Version you have ETC.  
+
RetroArch's Mupen64Plus core has taken some steps which help remedy these problems. It is the only emulator that implements N64-style three-point texture filtering, which results in a more faithful look. It is also capable of rendering at 320x240, which sidesteps the issues with filtered text, UI elements, and menu screens, while still retaining texture filtering. Pixel-accurate plugins do not have these problems at all.
Now that you have Homebrew Channel and CleanRip installed here are instructions.
+
<gallery widths="300" mode="packed">
 +
Project64_2013-06-26_17-44-58-31.png|Conker's Bad Fur Day copyright screen, displaying issues with filtered text.
 +
Mupen64plus_2013-08-18_20-35-50-08.png|Ocarina of Time's menu subscreen, displaying issues with filtering. Note how the Quest Status screen appears to be divided into a grid.
 +
</gallery>
  
#Make sure a GameCube controller is plugged into your Wii.
+
===Voice Recognition Unit emulation===
#Insert your Wii or GameCube disc and your SD card or USB stick into the Wii.
+
The Voice Recognition Unit (VRU) is an accessory used primarily by ''Hey You, Pikachu''. No emulator or input plugin supports this, although there is an on-going effort to get it working.<ref name="emutalk">{{cite web|url=http://www.emutalk.net/threads/55279|title=Hey You! Pikachu - Possible HLE Implementation|publisher=emutalk|accessdate=2018-06-17|date=2014-10-27, Last edit: 2016-04-04}}</ref>
#Choose what device you're using, USB or SD using the GameCube buttons
+
===''Densha De Go!'' Controller===
#Choose which file format your SD or USB stick is. (Must be FAT32 or NTFS, if not you'll need to format it, read down below for instructions)
+
Also available for the [[PlayStation emulators|PlayStation]], ''Densha De Go! 64'' is a Japan-only train simulator released by [[Wikipedia:Taito|Taito]] that is compatible with an optional special controller that plugs into the player 3 port.<ref name="ArcadeUSA">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCcPAGhcnck|title=Densha De Go! Nintendo 64 Controller!|publisher=YouTube|accessdate=2018-06-17|date=2017-01-20}}</ref> No emulator supports it.
#If it asks you download Redump.org bat files. Press no.
 
#Press A on your GameCube controller and it will start the ripping process, wait for it to finish and when its done the ISO file will be on your SD card or USB stick.
 
  
'''Instructions for formatting SD card/USB stick:''' If your SD card or USB stick is not FAT32 or NTFS here's how to format on a Windows computer.
+
===Pokémon Snap Station===
 +
There was a special kiosk designed to promote ''Pokémon Snap'' called the ''Pokémon Snap Station'', which is also compatible with the North American ''Pokémon Stadium'' with its gallery mode. It is just a Nintendo 64 with special hardware designed for the station.<ref name="Sixty Formula">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMbjvGvPkV4|title=The Pokemon Snap Station|publisher=YouTube|accessdate=2018-06-17|date=2016-05-21}}</ref><ref name="MetalJesusRocks">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_UGpRN6AnM&t=3m35s|title=VIDEO GAME KIOSKS - Extreme Game Collecting!|publisher=YouTube|accessdate=2018-06-17|date=2016-05-25}}</ref> Although the special cartridge boots in emulators compatible with the regular version, the printing functions are inaccessible due to no emulation of the printer for the player 4 slot, credit system, or the special board to switch between the regular and special cartridges.
  
#Plug your SD card or USB stick into your computer.
+
===Transfer Pak emulation===
#Click on Start Menu, click on computer.
+
A few games use the Transfer Pak such as ''Mario Golf'', ''Mario Tennis'', ''Mario Artist: Paint Studio'', and the ''Pokémon Stadium'' games. Mostly, this can be done with N-Gage's input plugin, but a couple of things aren't emulated:
#Right click on your SD card Or USB card.
 
#Press Format, and choose FAT32 or NTFS (Make sure you backup files if there's any on there, as the formatting process will delete everything)
 
  
==Wii U==
+
*Taking pictures with the Japanese ''Game Boy Camera'' (called ''Pocket Camera'') while in Transfer Pak mode playing ''Mario Artist: Paint Studio'' displays static.
Wii U discs have rounded edges making it impossible to read on Blu-Ray drives for PC the same way, though early dumping groups made a non-public physical modification to the Wii U to dump the data directly from its optical drive. If your console can run homebrew, however, you can dump your Wii U discs with [https://gbatemp.net/threads/dumpiine-v1-0-dump-your-rpx-and-rpl.398790/ Dumpiine], [https://gbatemp.net/threads/451736/ Wudump] or [https://wiiu.guide/disc2app disc2app]. Only Wudump produces a lossless dump, the others extract the bare code and data for the game in either RPX/RPL (Dumpiine) or WUPInstaller (disc2app) format.
 
  
==Nintendo Game Boy Advance / DS / 3DS==
+
===64DD emulation===
===With a Flashcart (On DS)===
+
The 64DD (an abbreviation for "64 Disk Drive") was a peripheral which allowed a proprietary disk format to be used with the N64. These disks had more space at a cheaper manufacturing cost. The peripheral was a commercial failure and was never released outside of Japan. Internal evidence suggests that, much like the GBA e-Reader, it wasn't even intended for a European release.
<!-- To-do: add flashcarts and/or tools that can dump GBA games -->
 
===With Homebrew (On 3DS)===
 
To jailbreak your 3DS, refer to [https://3ds.guide 3ds.guide].
 
  
DS and 3DS cartridges can be dumped using [https://github.com/d0k3/Decrypt9WIP Decrypt9WIP]. This works for both the old and new models, as well as variations like the 2DS.
+
Expansion disks are region-coded to either Japan or US (obviously unused) and won't work with N64 games from the wrong region. Only F-Zero X has full support for this feature, but dummied-out expansion data in Ocarina of Time and Mario Party 2 (JP/PAL) exist as well.
  
==Sony Playstation Portable / Playstation Vita==
+
The special AV-In cartridge (NUS-028) that ''Mario Artist: Talent Studio'' can use doesn't work because it requires an RCA cable signal.
===Using PSP with Homebrew===
 
To extract the ISO game image from a physical PSP UMD disc, you simply need a 6.60 CFW PSP, its USB connection cable, and a PC.
 
  
On the main menu, press the Select button to bring the PRO VHS menu with the neat overclocking options. You'll need to change UMD ISO MODE from "Memory Stick" to "UMD Disk" (don't forget to revert this after you're done).
+
Recently, there has been an effort to emulate the 64DD, and now [[Project64]] and [[MAME]] can run several commercial 64DD games as part of its N64 emulator. This is being ported to [[CEN64]] with the help of [https://twitter.com/LuigiBlood LuigiBlood]. The latest newcomer is Mupen64Plus which is the base of other emulators such as [[m64p]] and [[RMG]].
  
Now, if you "Initialize USB Connection" with your computer, what will appear under the freshly mounted drive in Windows isn't your memory stick, but a drive with a neat ISO file ripe for copying to your computer, which you can emulate or load in a CFW enabled PSP.
+
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 +
|-
 +
! scope="col"|Name
 +
! scope="col"|Platform(s)
 +
! scope="col"|Latest Version
 +
! scope="col"|N64 Mouse
 +
! scope="col"|64DD Emulation
 +
! scope="col"|Active
 +
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="7"|PC / x86
 +
|-
 +
|ParaLLEl
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 +
|[https://www.retroarch.com/ 2.0-rc2]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|Mid/High
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Project64]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[https://github.com/project64/project64 {{Project64Ver}}]<br >[https://64dd.org/downloads.html 64DD.org Builds]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|Mid
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[CEN64]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 +
|[https://github.com/tj90241/cen64 git]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|Mid
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[m64p]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
 +
||[https://github.com/loganmc10/m64p/releases git]
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|?
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}} (WIP)
 +
|-
 +
|[[MAME]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 +
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|Mid
 +
|{{✓}}
 +
|{{✗}}
 +
|}
  
==See Also==
+
* Project64's latest versions emulate the N64 mouse and can load Zoinkity's hacked 64DD cartridge conversions at playable speeds. You'll need to set every game to have 8MB of Memory by default manually. Games do not save, some need "32-bit engine" to be unchecked (like Talent Studio), and some (like Polygon Studio to fix models and Paint Studio to fix stamps) need the Angrylion GFX plugin rather than GlideN64, which does the job for the rest.
[http://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/File_Hashes#Determining_Good_Game_Dumps Sites for Determining Good Dumps (CRC's, MD5's, etc.)]
+
**The 64DD hardware started to be emulated around 2.3's release with the help of [https://github.com/LuigiBlood LuigiBlood]. Saving works but in the form of NDR files. NDR files are copied versions of NDD images with save data included as to not write to the clean unaltered images. In order to play 64DD games in their original forms, 8MB of memory is still needed because the real hardware needed the Expansion Pak upgrade. The IPL is also needed.
  
===Converting PS1 ISOs to PSP Eboots===
+
* MAME includes early basic 64DD emulation as well but is much slower. Disk images need to be in head/track format. See [https://github.com/Happy-yappH/ddconvert.git here] for more information. It does not currently support disk swapping or saving disk to files. Writes only update the copy in memory, and, once the MAME process ends, the changes are lost. Current usage: <code>mame n64dd -quickload disk -cart cart -nodrc</code> (both disk and cart are optional)
Convert your own PS1 ISOs into Eboots using [http://pspslimhacks.com/psp-tutorials/converting-psone-games-to-psp-eboots-psx-to-psp/ PSX2PSP].
 
====Popsloader====
 
If you are having some trouble with converted eboots, be sure to download '''Popsloader v4g''' [http://zload.net/v2/archives/file/?id=2417473 here]. Most of the games will work without it nowadays, but for those that don't, you'll need this. See [https://googledrive.com/host/0B1-FBFXyMbdvSDE1WnpfNW1wWTA/Pops-Compatibility-List.htm popsloader compatibility list].
 
  
[[Category:FAQs]]
+
* CEN64, like Project64, had 64DD emulation ported to it from MAME. However, it focuses on accuracy and plays much slower than other emulators, aside for the 64DD emulation itself is imperfect.
 +
 
 +
===iQue Player emulation===
 +
Before the GBA, DS, and 3DS, Nintendo released a modified version of their Nintendo 64 system for the Chinese market, which was called the iQue Player, through their not-quite-subsidiary iQue. Fourteen games were translated into Simplified Chinese, including Sin and Punishment, Ocarina of Time (the Majora's Mask port was canceled), Super Mario 64, and others.
 +
 
 +
Unlike the Chinese releases of their more recent systems and their games, iQue Player releases are regular N64 roms wrapped with several layers of encryption, as well as a ticket and signature system like that on Wii, DSi, 3DS, Wii U and Switch. The Chinese ROM-hacking scene is very active though and has translated the Japanese regular N64 releases for many of these to their language already, which explain some of the Chinese ROMs floating for those. However, recently, almost all pieces of iQue Player software were decrypted to regular .z64 ROM format.
 +
 
 +
Several of the Chinese game localizations already run on N64 emulators, but as some hardware features of the iQue Player are not yet supported, some games, as well as the system menu and features in games such as saving, do not work yet.
 +
 
 +
===Aleck 64 arcade emulation===
 +
Nintendo collaborated with SETA to release an arcade system based on their Nintendo 64 system (kind of like their PlayChoice-10 for the NES, Super System arcade hardware for SNES, and later Triforce for GCN and Wii U). The Nintendo 64-variant with more RAM, the Aleck 64, failed to catch on and bombed. It was never released outside Japan, even though one N64 port made it.
 +
 
 +
The Aleck 64 ROMs were dumped, and Zoinkity is working on converting them to regular N64 ROMs (with controls remapped to N64 controller buttons). They generally require an 8MB Expansion Pak to run at all and 4K EEPROM to save settings and scores. The ones covered by these patches are:
 +
 
 +
* Donchan Puzzle Hanabi de Doon!
 +
* Eleven Beat: World Tournament
 +
* Hi Pai Paradise
 +
* Kuru Kuru Fever
 +
* Magical Tetris Challenge
 +
* Mayjinsen 3 / Meijin-Sen
 +
* Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth (also ported to N64)
 +
* Super Real Mahjong VS
 +
* Tower & Shaft
 +
* Vivid Dolls (official eroge game on a Nintendo console)
 +
 
 +
The already available [http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/aleck64-on-retail-consoles-poc.55041/ patches] to convert arcade ROM dumps to regular N64 ROM format can be found [http://micro-64.com/database/aleck64.shtml here].
 +
 
 +
The remaining ones from the system's library not yet covered are:
 +
* Hi Pai Paradise 2
 +
* Rev Limit
 +
* Variant Schwanzer
 +
 
 +
==Virtual Console games in Dolphin==
 +
Some N64 games are emulated well on a Virtual Console game through Dolphin. The system requirements are much higher, but it's doable for many games. The following games are on the N64 Virtual Console for Wii:
 +
 
 +
{|width="100%"
 +
|- valign="top"
 +
|
 +
* 1080 Snowboarding
 +
* Bomberman Hero
 +
* Cruis'n USA
 +
* Custom Robo V2 (Japan only)
 +
* F-Zero X
 +
* Kirby 64: The Crystal Stars
 +
* The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
 +
* The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
 +
|
 +
* Mario Golf
 +
* Mario Kart 64
 +
* Mario Party 2
 +
* Mario Tennis
 +
* Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
 +
* Paper Mario
 +
* Pokemon Puzzle League
 +
|
 +
* Pokemon Snap
 +
* Sin & Punishment (English)
 +
* Star Fox 64
 +
* Super Mario 64
 +
* Super Smash Bros.
 +
* Wave Race 64
 +
* Yoshi's Story
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
==Notes==
 +
<references group=N />
 +
 
 +
==References==
 +
<references/>
 +
 
 +
{{Nintendo}}
 +
 
 +
[[Category:Consoles]]
 +
[[Category:Home consoles]]
 +
[[Category:Fifth-generation video game consoles]]
 +
[[Category:Nintendo consoles]]
 +
[[Category:Nintendo 64 emulators|*]]

Revision as of 21:22, 23 July 2021

Nintendo 64
Nintendo64Console.png
Developer Nintendo
Type Home video game console
Generation Fifth generation
Release date 1996
Discontinued 2002
Predecessor SNES
Successor GameCube
Emulated

The Nintendo 64 is a 64-bit fifth-generation console released by Nintendo on September 29, 1996 for $199.99.

Nintendo was the second company approached by Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI), who wanted to roll out their previously enterprise-only technology in the consumer space. They originally pitched their idea to Sega, but it's assumed that Nintendo's offer was more appealing. With the NEC VR4300 CPU clocked at 93.75 MHz, 4MB of RAM,[N 1] and an SGI RCP GPU, Nintendo had finalized much of the hardware at least a year before launch, preventing video games from needing drastic rewrites as a result of architectural changes. The development workstations were often Unix-based, something that would later help reverse engineers in some projects.

Emulators

Name Platform(s) Latest Version Controller Pak Rumble Pak Transfer Pak 64DD Libretro Core FLOSS Active Recommended
PC / x86
m64p (ParaLLEl) Windows Linux git
m64p (Final GLideN64) Windows Linux macOS Final GLideN64
ParaLLEl Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 2.0-rc2 ✓*
Project64 Windows 3.0.1
Dev
RMG Windows Linux git ~
ares Windows Linux macOS Official ~ ~ ~
CEN64 Windows Linux macOS git ~
Mupen64Plus Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD git ~
Project64 Netplay Windows 10/15/21
BizHawk Windows 2.9.1
1964 Windows 1.1 (Official)
1.2 r146 (Unofficial SVN)
DaedalusX64 Linux git
Sixtyforce macOS 2.0.2
Larper64 Windows Linux macOS 0.4
UltraHLE Windows 1.0
MAME Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 0.264
Ryu64 Windows Linux macOS git
R64Emu Windows Linux macOS git
Mobile / ARM
Mupen64Plus FZ Android 3.0.286 (beta)
Mupen64Plus-pandora Pandora Build 21 (v2.2) ? ?
Consoles
Virtual Console Wii Wii U N/A
Surreal64 CE Xbox Beta 6.0
mupen64-360 Xbox 360 0.96 beta
Not64 GameCube Wii git
DaedalusX64 PSP Nintendo 3DS
Vita PlayStation 2
git, 3DS git
vitaGL git, PS2
~
Wii64 GameCube Wii 1.1 beta

* Available exclusively as a libretro core

Comparisons

Although many Nintendo 64 emulators have been made and many games can be run between them, complete compatibility and/or accuracy still leaves a bit to be desired. For half a decade, Mupen64Plus and Project64 have vied for the most playable emulator, and which has been more compatible has depended on when and in what configuration each emulator has been tested. Both emulators default to lackluster plugins, but, as of August 2017, both emulators have roughly equal graphical accuracy when running with GLideN64.

Mupen64Plus
A multi-platform emulator based on Hacktarux's Mupen64. It's about as accurate as Project64,[1] when both emulators are run with GLideN64. However, Mupen64Plus lacks a native GUI, instead being launched either from the command line or by dragging and dropping ROMs onto the executable and editing the config with a text editor. BizHawk and OpenEmu use forks of Mupen64Plus and its plugins for their N64 emulation, but they seem to be shallow.
ParaLLEl
A heavily-modified fork developed as a libretro core. It introduces many features and optimizations not present in mainline alongside RetroArch's general features, including Project64-style overclocking for faster frame rates, 3-point texture filtering, superior A/V sync and latency, and even an exclusive LLE Vulkan renderer based on Angrylion's pixel-perfect RDP plugin, making it a better alternative to the standalone version in some cases, especially if accuracy is the goal. ParaLLEl has a special "Super VI Mode" option which, if used, can make the visuals of N64 games look less blurry with fairly mitigated jaggies even at their native resolutions. Although, it may need a powerful GPU. It also offers native high resolution rendering, only available in integer scales of the original N64 resolution.
m64p
Probably the easiest "out of the box" solution for Nintendo 64 emulation. It comes with Parallel RDP, as well as its own custom GUI and input plugin.
RMG
Rosalie's Mupen GUI was a project aiming to close the gap between Project64 and Mupen64Plus in terms of user experience. However, as of 9th of January 2021 the project have now been archived by the owner putting the work on it on hold indefinitely.
Wii64 and Not64
Both are based on Mupen64, with Not64 being a fork of Wii64. Not64 claims to be better optimized as well as having higher compatibility and more frequent updates. N64 emulation on Wii is not very good, and it is recommended to stick with the Virtual Console releases whenever possible.
Project64
An open-source emulator for Windows. Its official release builds are more up-to-date than Mupen64Plus', and the current version, 3.0.1, 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. It does come with GLideN64 out-of-the-box, but the default audio plugin isn't even the best in the box. For the most part, it works well in Wine, but, if you're on a different platform, use Mupen64Plus instead.
CEN64
Aims for cycle accuracy while, at the same time, aiming to eventually be usable on modern PC hardware. It currently lacks many features and has spotty compatibility, but it's gradually improving. It can already emulate some well-known edge cases such as the picture recognition in Pokemon Snap.
1964
Along with its various versions and forks, it was once a decent, speedy open-source alternative to Project64 and Mupen64, though it usually lagged behind the two compatibility-wise. Nowadays it has completely fallen off the radar as development has halted, and there is no longer a central code repo to speak of. There is little reason to use it nowadays outside of historical purposes, very specific edge cases, or if your device is too slow to run Mupen64Plus or Project64.
Daedalus
is an Nintendo 64 emulator for PC which was ported to the PSP under the name of DaedalusX64. The PSP version later became the main version and got ported to platforms such as the Dreamcast, the PS2, the PS Vita and the 3DS. On PSP, several games are able to reach full speed and most of them work with few emulation issues.
Sixtyforce
is macOS-only, closed-source, and asks you to pay for full access to its features. It was once one of the only choices for Mac users, particularly those with older Macs, since it's the only emulator with a PPC dynarec), but, with the switch to x86 and Mupen64Plus being ported to macOS, it has now become less relevant. However, development is still on ongoing, and is currently in its third rewrite to support the upcoming Apple Silicon.
UltraHLE
marked a milestone in Nintendo 64 emulation, in that it was the first to play some popular N64 titles at full speed on hardware made at the time of its release through high-level emulation; it isn't without its drawbacks though - pressure from users, combined with legal threats from Nintendo, forced them to discontinue development. Besides being for historical value, there's not much to expect from this emulator anyway due to compatibility issues.
Ryu64
is a Nintendo 64 emulator made in C#. The 'Ryu' word is named after the "RyuJIT" used in both Visual Basic & C#. But it might have been inspired by the lead author's sole (so far) commit at Switch emulator, Ryujinx's Git repository and his depreciated Ryujinx Auto Updater tool. "86RYU", a x86 JIT compiler, is being developed alongside this emulator too.

Emulation issues

Main article: Recommended N64 plugins

The Nintendo 64 emulation scene can be described as a hot mess. It got to that point because of the overall emulation scene's climate in the early days, which was to stub off certain components of the emulated hardware as plugins. (Other consoles weren't immune to this phenomenon; it also happened to the first PlayStation.) Developers underestimated the complexity of the system, and with little demand for improvements beyond getting the popular titles working from beginning to end, most emulator developers stuck with the codebases they knew for as long as possible and never integrated any of the plugins that were needed to make up a full project, or merge their codebases into one project. And because almost no documentation is available for clean-room reverse engineers, figuring out how the hardware actually functioned had to be done manually, which took longer. The unfortunate result of this is that many games require specific plugin arrangements and specific emulators in order to run well, and there is no viable alternative that isn't just an iteration on the existing plugin-based emulators.

High-level vs. low-level graphics

One of the biggest hurdles to emulating the Nintendo 64 is the Reality Display Processor (RDP), one of two components in the Reality Coprocessor made by SGI. The Reality Display Processor was the most powerful consumer-grade GPU at the time of the console's release; this was a selling point that Nintendo wanted to emphasize as a result of working with SGI. However, reverse engineering efforts for popular Nintendo 64 games showed that Nintendo's software development kit included a common microcode for the RDP. It's possible Nintendo didn't want to give developers access at a lower level out of fears that doing so would damage consumer units, but that meant most of the effort spent emulating the RDP would go towards figuring out how to handle the microcode.

  • Most developers in 1999 and the early 2000s opted to approximate functions through various APIs such as Direct3D, OpenGL, and even Glide. While this resulted in much more reasonable system requirements for emulation, along with prettier, higher resolution graphics, this method proved to be hit and miss, often requiring per-game tweaks and settings to prevent graphical glitches on many games. Some games flat out didn't work, because it wasn't clear what the microcode did or why, and required extensive hardware testing.
  • On the low level side, developers would either completely emulate the RDP or autodetect the microcode and use an appropriate implementation for the game. The former would mean a software renderer accurate to the hardware but major performance bottlenecks unless optimizations like vectorization and multi-threading were implemented. The latter would mean faster performance but developers would still have to figure out how to account for edge cases.

gonetz and one or two assistants have spent a large portion of development improving GlideN64's handling of microcode throughout 2016-2018.[2][3] This means that Factor 5's games are now working in the high-level graphics mode.[4][5] Other games may still have issues with RDP quirks like frame buffer/depth buffer access (issues with how the frame buffer is used as well as performance issues), VI emulation, and how combine/blending modes are emulated (such as noise issues and combiner accuracy).

It should be noted that most games technically work through the HLE method, but it's not an accurate representation of what the video output actually looked like, but rather a rough approximation by your graphics card. Whether this is an improvement or not is subjective.

Texture filtering

The Nintendo 64 was the first consumer device to be able to filter textures when rendering 3D objects. However, unlike every console and PC graphics card made after the N64, its implementation of bilinear was primitive in that, in order to reduce strain on the system, it only used three samples as opposed to four, resulting in slightly jagged textures. Instead of faithfully applying this "imperfect" version of bilinear filtering, HLE plugins instead apply conventional filtering, interpolating straight from the source texture up to the output resolution the same way a PC game would. While that method is technically superior, it can result in textures that look even blurrier than on real hardware.

Another issue lies with the appliance of texture filtering per quad on static images, text, and sprites. Because each quad is filtered separately, this can cause some visual inconsistencies. Text and UI elements often look as though their edges cut off abruptly, and static images, such as pre-rendered backgrounds or menu screens, may look as though they are separated into squares. Some plugins allow the user to turn off texture filtering to remedy this, but, unfortunately, this also applies to textures in the game world, exposing their oftentimes low resolutions.

RetroArch's Mupen64Plus core has taken some steps which help remedy these problems. It is the only emulator that implements N64-style three-point texture filtering, which results in a more faithful look. It is also capable of rendering at 320x240, which sidesteps the issues with filtered text, UI elements, and menu screens, while still retaining texture filtering. Pixel-accurate plugins do not have these problems at all.

Voice Recognition Unit emulation

The Voice Recognition Unit (VRU) is an accessory used primarily by Hey You, Pikachu. No emulator or input plugin supports this, although there is an on-going effort to get it working.[6]

Densha De Go! Controller

Also available for the PlayStation, Densha De Go! 64 is a Japan-only train simulator released by Taito that is compatible with an optional special controller that plugs into the player 3 port.[7] No emulator supports it.

Pokémon Snap Station

There was a special kiosk designed to promote Pokémon Snap called the Pokémon Snap Station, which is also compatible with the North American Pokémon Stadium with its gallery mode. It is just a Nintendo 64 with special hardware designed for the station.[8][9] Although the special cartridge boots in emulators compatible with the regular version, the printing functions are inaccessible due to no emulation of the printer for the player 4 slot, credit system, or the special board to switch between the regular and special cartridges.

Transfer Pak emulation

A few games use the Transfer Pak such as Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Artist: Paint Studio, and the Pokémon Stadium games. Mostly, this can be done with N-Gage's input plugin, but a couple of things aren't emulated:

  • Taking pictures with the Japanese Game Boy Camera (called Pocket Camera) while in Transfer Pak mode playing Mario Artist: Paint Studio displays static.

64DD emulation

The 64DD (an abbreviation for "64 Disk Drive") was a peripheral which allowed a proprietary disk format to be used with the N64. These disks had more space at a cheaper manufacturing cost. The peripheral was a commercial failure and was never released outside of Japan. Internal evidence suggests that, much like the GBA e-Reader, it wasn't even intended for a European release.

Expansion disks are region-coded to either Japan or US (obviously unused) and won't work with N64 games from the wrong region. Only F-Zero X has full support for this feature, but dummied-out expansion data in Ocarina of Time and Mario Party 2 (JP/PAL) exist as well.

The special AV-In cartridge (NUS-028) that Mario Artist: Talent Studio can use doesn't work because it requires an RCA cable signal.

Recently, there has been an effort to emulate the 64DD, and now Project64 and MAME can run several commercial 64DD games as part of its N64 emulator. This is being ported to CEN64 with the help of LuigiBlood. The latest newcomer is Mupen64Plus which is the base of other emulators such as m64p and RMG.

Name Platform(s) Latest Version N64 Mouse 64DD Emulation Active Recommended
PC / x86
ParaLLEl Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 2.0-rc2 Mid/High
Project64 Windows 3.0.1
64DD.org Builds
Mid
CEN64 Windows Linux macOS git Mid
m64p Windows Linux macOS git ? ✗ (WIP)
MAME Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 0.264 Mid
  • Project64's latest versions emulate the N64 mouse and can load Zoinkity's hacked 64DD cartridge conversions at playable speeds. You'll need to set every game to have 8MB of Memory by default manually. Games do not save, some need "32-bit engine" to be unchecked (like Talent Studio), and some (like Polygon Studio to fix models and Paint Studio to fix stamps) need the Angrylion GFX plugin rather than GlideN64, which does the job for the rest.
    • The 64DD hardware started to be emulated around 2.3's release with the help of LuigiBlood. Saving works but in the form of NDR files. NDR files are copied versions of NDD images with save data included as to not write to the clean unaltered images. In order to play 64DD games in their original forms, 8MB of memory is still needed because the real hardware needed the Expansion Pak upgrade. The IPL is also needed.
  • MAME includes early basic 64DD emulation as well but is much slower. Disk images need to be in head/track format. See here for more information. It does not currently support disk swapping or saving disk to files. Writes only update the copy in memory, and, once the MAME process ends, the changes are lost. Current usage: mame n64dd -quickload disk -cart cart -nodrc (both disk and cart are optional)
  • CEN64, like Project64, had 64DD emulation ported to it from MAME. However, it focuses on accuracy and plays much slower than other emulators, aside for the 64DD emulation itself is imperfect.

iQue Player emulation

Before the GBA, DS, and 3DS, Nintendo released a modified version of their Nintendo 64 system for the Chinese market, which was called the iQue Player, through their not-quite-subsidiary iQue. Fourteen games were translated into Simplified Chinese, including Sin and Punishment, Ocarina of Time (the Majora's Mask port was canceled), Super Mario 64, and others.

Unlike the Chinese releases of their more recent systems and their games, iQue Player releases are regular N64 roms wrapped with several layers of encryption, as well as a ticket and signature system like that on Wii, DSi, 3DS, Wii U and Switch. The Chinese ROM-hacking scene is very active though and has translated the Japanese regular N64 releases for many of these to their language already, which explain some of the Chinese ROMs floating for those. However, recently, almost all pieces of iQue Player software were decrypted to regular .z64 ROM format.

Several of the Chinese game localizations already run on N64 emulators, but as some hardware features of the iQue Player are not yet supported, some games, as well as the system menu and features in games such as saving, do not work yet.

Aleck 64 arcade emulation

Nintendo collaborated with SETA to release an arcade system based on their Nintendo 64 system (kind of like their PlayChoice-10 for the NES, Super System arcade hardware for SNES, and later Triforce for GCN and Wii U). The Nintendo 64-variant with more RAM, the Aleck 64, failed to catch on and bombed. It was never released outside Japan, even though one N64 port made it.

The Aleck 64 ROMs were dumped, and Zoinkity is working on converting them to regular N64 ROMs (with controls remapped to N64 controller buttons). They generally require an 8MB Expansion Pak to run at all and 4K EEPROM to save settings and scores. The ones covered by these patches are:

  • Donchan Puzzle Hanabi de Doon!
  • Eleven Beat: World Tournament
  • Hi Pai Paradise
  • Kuru Kuru Fever
  • Magical Tetris Challenge
  • Mayjinsen 3 / Meijin-Sen
  • Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth (also ported to N64)
  • Super Real Mahjong VS
  • Tower & Shaft
  • Vivid Dolls (official eroge game on a Nintendo console)

The already available patches to convert arcade ROM dumps to regular N64 ROM format can be found here.

The remaining ones from the system's library not yet covered are:

  • Hi Pai Paradise 2
  • Rev Limit
  • Variant Schwanzer

Virtual Console games in Dolphin

Some N64 games are emulated well on a Virtual Console game through Dolphin. The system requirements are much higher, but it's doable for many games. The following games are on the N64 Virtual Console for Wii:

  • 1080 Snowboarding
  • Bomberman Hero
  • Cruis'n USA
  • Custom Robo V2 (Japan only)
  • F-Zero X
  • Kirby 64: The Crystal Stars
  • The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
  • Mario Golf
  • Mario Kart 64
  • Mario Party 2
  • Mario Tennis
  • Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
  • Paper Mario
  • Pokemon Puzzle League
  • Pokemon Snap
  • Sin & Punishment (English)
  • Star Fox 64
  • Super Mario 64
  • Super Smash Bros.
  • Wave Race 64
  • Yoshi's Story

Notes

  1. Though a separate add-on was later released called the "Expansion Pak" that added an additional 4MB of RAM, totaling 8MB.

References

  1. loganmc10. Ignore TLB write if TLB entry is unmapping itself. "By the way, once this, along with the other PR's I have waiting are merged, we are at "compatibility parity" with Project64 as far as I can tell. I don't know of any game that doesn't boot with mupen64plus that works in PJ64."
  2. Public Release 3.0. Blogspot (2017-12-29)
  3. Initial implementation of BOSS ZSort ucode (WDC, Stunt Racer). GitHub (2018-02-10)
  4. "Indiana J. & Infernal Machine" HLE. Indiegogo (2018-05-17)
  5. HLE implementation of microcodes for "Indiana Jones" and "Battle for Naboo" completed.. Blogspot (2018-05-26)
  6. Hey You! Pikachu - Possible HLE Implementation. emutalk (2014-10-27, Last edit: 2016-04-04)
  7. Densha De Go! Nintendo 64 Controller!. YouTube (2017-01-20)
  8. The Pokemon Snap Station. YouTube (2016-05-21)
  9. VIDEO GAME KIOSKS - Extreme Game Collecting!. YouTube (2016-05-25)