Homebrew Forcing N64 VC games into 240p - is it possible?

[InfiniteBlue]

Nintendo has always baffled me with their video quality decisions regarding the Virtual Console. When the console is set to 480i, it will display NES, SNES, Genesis, etc games in 240p, but not N64 for some reason. N64 is stuck in flickery 480i which looks relatively poor on the CRT I use for standard-definition gaming. Very strange considering most N64 games were kept at 240p.

So, is there some way to force 240p on these games? Perhaps like a loader that allows that option, not unlike USB Loader GX's 'force 480p' option? Or maybe patching the wad itself?

 

[GreyWolf]

Use an emulator instead of VC?

 

[InfiniteBlue]

I would, but the homebrew N64 emulators on Wii are nowhere close to the VC's quality. I use homebrew emulators for everything else though.

 

[soniccomcisbr]

The emulator don't have the option to run at 240p yet

 

[Burnt Lasagna]

Bare in mind, the N64 games on VC also render the 3D polygons at a higher resolution.

Some might call it an "improvement", I call it janky ass shit (all of the 2D spites no longer blend with the polygons).

I'm not sure how a 480i re-render of N64 games will look downscaled to 240p. Definitely not as authentic as you might want them.

 

[ned]

So this method doesn't work?
http://retrorgb.com/wiivsclassic.html
PAL games are displayed in 288p.

 

[the_randomizer]

Bare in mind, the N64 games on VC also render the 3D polygons at a higher resolution.

Some might call it an "improvement", I call it janky ass shit (all of the 2D spites no longer blend with the polygons).

I'm not sure how a 480i re-render of N64 games will look downscaled to 240p. Definitely not as authentic as you might want them.

Not to mention, Nintendo's N64 emulator emulates the RSP more accurately, even getting alpha dithering effects the Wii couldn't handle (invisible Mario pixel dissolve effects), but they botched Rare game
emulation, Donkey Kong 64 seems to use linear audio.

Wii U VC - http://filetrip.net/dl?K6QoC2uKOa
Real N64 - http://filetrip.net/dl?r6wwd6QDbD

This is one area unofficial emulators win, even Project 64 get the game to sound right, Nintendo did not. Sad.

The reason the sprites don't blend is because they're being rendered at higher res, most N64 games were 240p and 2D objects don't scale well. All N64 emulators do that unless you force filtering off.

 

[Lumstar]

So this method doesn't work?
http://retrorgb.com/wiivsclassic.html
PAL games are displayed in 288p.

I don't have a PAL Wii, but probably not. N64 VC games don't render at the original hardware resolution.
So there's in effect no 240p (or I assume 288p) image source to use.

Much like 240p and 288p, 480p @ 50hz is not a real television standard either. That'd be why 50hz-only console games lack 480p.

 

[Burnt Lasagna]

The reason the sprites don't blend is because they're being rendered at higher res, most N64 games were 240p and 2D objects don't scale well.

...I said that in my post.

 

[zerofalcon]

In not64 it can be activated the 240p video mode by editing the settings.cfg file located in not64 folder, just change the different values from 0 to 8 in the line "VideoMode = 0". These are the different video modes available : VideoMode
0: Auto - 1: 480i60 - 2: 480sf30 - 3: 240p60 - 4: 480p60 - 5: 576i50 - 6: 576sf25 - 7: 288p50 - 8: 576p50

 

[justjack]

In not64 it can be activated the 240p video mode by editing the settings.cfg file located in not64 folder, just change the different values from 0 to 8 in the line "VideoMode = 0". These are the different video modes available : VideoMode
0: Auto - 1: 480i60 - 2: 480sf30 - 3: 240p60 - 4: 480p60 - 5: 576i50 - 6: 576sf25 - 7: 288p50 - 8: 576p50

When I change it to 240p60 the program turns black and white :s

 

[InfiniteBlue]

Here's something I found which may be of interest: https://gbatemp.net/threads/need-expert-help-on-unpacking-repacking-wiivc-wad-pcengine-emu.358467/

Too bad the N64 emulator doesn't have a revision that supports 240p, or else we could be onto something.

I feel like the best way to approach this issue (short of resorting to a deinterlacing hardware solution) is to implement a 'Force 240p' option in a loader such as USB Loader GX. Not sure if that would even work on NAND channels, but I can't think of another solution. If I understand correctly, if they are using a GXRModeObj to determine video output, then theoretically they could add an option for TVNtsc240Ds (240p)? http://libogc.devkitpro.org/group__gxrmode__obj.html

 

[momodora]

I'm guessing there was never any progress with this? Are we forever doomed to play Majora's Mask in 480i?

 

[InfiniteBlue]

I'm guessing there was never any progress with this? Are we forever doomed to play Majora's Mask in 480i?

Not that I'm aware of, sadly. A couple months after I created this thread in 2016, I posted in the USBLoaderGX thread regarding the GXRModeObj, and Cyan was kind enough to provide a quick experimental build of USBLoaderGX with the object implemented.

https://gbatemp.net/posts/6469608/

Unfortunately it didn't quite work, and Cyan said there would have to be much more research into how the output behaves at a software level, since it is very finnicky. It was worth a shot, though. Haven't heard of any new developments since.

 

[Jeb_leeds]

I got Majora's Mask (GC version) running at 240p via Swiss on the wii. It's ok but i'm not sure how it would compare to say a regular n64 output.