Emulation Oldies Emulator Are there any updates for the n64 emulator?

[V22]

Guys, I noticed here that there have been no updates for n64 emulators for about 5 years. It's so sad considering she's still not perfect. Why did this happen? And how can we fix it?

 

[4d1xlaan]

well you can start by actually reading up on what n64 emulators there are right now

 

[SaulFabre]

*clears throat*

Project64: (last commit was just 2 days ago lol) https://github.com/project64/project64 ; Downloads of latest: https://www.pj64-emu.com/windows-downloads
Mupen64Plus: (last commit was last month but hey still regularly updated) https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core/ ; Downloads of latest: https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core/releases/

 

[Jayro]

Guys, I noticed here that there have been no updates for n64 emulators for about 5 years. It's so sad considering she's still not perfect. Why did this happen? And how can we fix it?

We need developers that actually give a shit about emulation. Sadly, all the best emulators are in decent shape, but the devs have gone lazy and paused development. And a few of them aren't even open source, so they sadly can't even be picked up by other devs.

Me personally, I've moved on from emulators and have settled in with FPGA for retro gaming. The N64 core for the MiSTer FPGA project runs all the games flawlessly now. No ROM patching needed, games don't crash, no weird graphical bugs, etc. It can even use real controllers and mempaks with it using a cheap adapter.

 

[V22]

*clears throat*

Project64: (last commit was just 2 days ago lol) https://github.com/project64/project64 ; Downloads of latest: https://www.pj64-emu.com/windows-downloads
Mupen64Plus: (last commit was last month but hey still regularly updated) https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core/ ; Downloads of latest: https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core/releases/

ok, sorry. You open my eyes. I just haven't heard or seen anything about these emulators since 2019. Besides, the last stable builds were released in 2021, so this is not surprising. I hope that the n64 emulator for the Nintendo switch will be updated or created in the near future.

Post automatically merged: Dec 14, 2024

*clears throat*

Project64: (last commit was just 2 days ago lol) https://github.com/project64/project64 ; Downloads of latest: https://www.pj64-emu.com/windows-downloads
Mupen64Plus: (last commit was last month but hey still regularly updated) https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core/ ; Downloads of latest: https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core/releases/

BTW project64 4.0 crashes when I try to open the rom with the game. Do you know how to fix it?

 

[ciro64]

Here's some emulators I recommend:

• RMG: Rosalie's Mupen GUI if you want a PJ64-like gui with modern emulation backend. Accuracy is scarified for performance and enhancements such as custom resolutions and texture packs.
• Simple64 if you want more accuracy, if you pick any officially released game it's likely going to run flawless
• Ares aims for RDP accurate emulation, capable of running even homebrew games made in Libdragon. It's also the most performance-heavy of them all, but should work fine on a modern gaming PC.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

*clears throat*

Project64: (last commit was just 2 days ago lol) https://github.com/project64/project64 ; Downloads of latest: https://www.pj64-emu.com/windows-downloads
Mupen64Plus: (last commit was last month but hey still regularly updated) https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core/ ; Downloads of latest: https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core/releases/

You forgot about Parallel Launcher, last commit an hour ago.

 

[VmprHntrD]

I know this post is a bit dated but since it's still getting some responses I wanted to drop something of value. Watch it later, but modern vintage gamer on YT just did a video about this very topic days ago, the sorry ass state of N64 emulation and why it's broken and needs to be fixed, and likely won't be in the immediate future sadly too.

Summed up if I remember this right and it's a beef I've had since the change from UltraHLE went into emulator using plugins. At the time 20 years ago it made sense given hardware limitations to find the best support for the game you wanted to run vs the hardware you had at the time. Now the plugin system is a vampiric pos nightmare that's ruining emulation of the console and leaving it stagnant with problems. The plugin system which helped once, now that even mid-tier computers of the last 10 years having more than enough power, still are suffering problems because of how emulators work and slave themselves to this now bad idea. What's needed now is someone (like with how PS1 emulators evolved to lose their plugins) or group of someones to code up a new version of an existing or something new that handles the unique N64 microcode situation to load up the games to run right. As it is now, a majority of the games, the ones people tend to think of, popular, and didn't go overboard doing something cool on screen can run correctly as-is. But when you get into games with heavier use of the system in some means with or without the memory expansion, some using unique microcode like Factor5 was notorious for doing, often run like crap in some respect.

Simple64 and ares64 seem to be the best of the lot for accuracy, but currently Simple64 has some bad code in it causing it to trigger virus blockers to have a fit about it having a Trojan so maybe wait on that. Those 2 I know are working away from the lousy plugin system.

As it sits now Rosalie's DMG (it's a mupen64plus offshoot) is fantastic, and seemingly the nightly build designs of the classic Project64 are too. It's actually a blend of the best bits of both Project64 and Mupen64plus which is a win.

 

[Robert Newbie]

I know this post is a bit dated but since it's still getting some responses I wanted to drop something of value. Watch it later, but modern vintage gamer on YT just did a video about this very topic days ago, the sorry ass state of N64 emulation and why it's broken and needs to be fixed, and likely won't be in the immediate future sadly too.

Summed up if I remember this right and it's a beef I've had since the change from UltraHLE went into emulator using plugins. At the time 20 years ago it made sense given hardware limitations to find the best support for the game you wanted to run vs the hardware you had at the time. Now the plugin system is a vampiric pos nightmare that's ruining emulation of the console and leaving it stagnant with problems. The plugin system which helped once, now that even mid-tier computers of the last 10 years having more than enough power, still are suffering problems because of how emulators work and slave themselves to this now bad idea. What's needed now is someone (like with how PS1 emulators evolved to lose their plugins) or group of someones to code up a new version of an existing or something new that handles the unique N64 microcode situation to load up the games to run right. As it is now, a majority of the games, the ones people tend to think of, popular, and didn't go overboard doing something cool on screen can run correctly as-is. But when you get into games with heavier use of the system in some means with or without the memory expansion, some using unique microcode like Factor5 was notorious for doing, often run like crap in some respect.

Simple64 and ares64 seem to be the best of the lot for accuracy, but currently Simple64 has some bad code in it causing it to trigger virus blockers to have a fit about it having a Trojan so maybe wait on that. Those 2 I know are working away from the lousy plugin system.

As it sits now Rosalie's DMG (it's a mupen64plus offshoot) is fantastic, and seemingly the nightly build designs of the classic Project64 are too. It's actually a blend of the best bits of both Project64 and Mupen64plus which is a win.

Interesting. It reminds me of how OG Xbox emulation had stalled for the longest time. These days, it seems like XEMU is everyone's best bet at preserving the experience. PCSX2 took the plunge to get rid of the plugin system, and that decision was well-received. I recall some cycle accurate projects for the N64, such as CEN64, but I don't think anything long-term came from those.

Here's hoping N64 and OG Xbox get the attention they deserve.

 

[VmprHntrD]

@Robert Newbie Yeah that seems about right. I decided since simple64 was pulling a potential trojan into the mix on install I'd give ares a try. THat one does not use any plugins, the idea MVG was talking about, and I threw Indiana Jones at it, the most needy released game, most taxing and utterly intense microcode game and it ran, ran well, utterly smooth and I didn't see anything bs issues outside of what it would do on the hardware since its late development was rushed and released with some random glitches(crashes too, though it didn't crash.)

 

[M7L7NK7]

I hope that the n64 emulator for the Nintendo switch will be updated or created in the near future

Apart from killer instinct gold and quake 2, Mupen on switch is near perfect and has been for years

 

[ciro64]

As far as PC goes the emulators seems to be going fine from my point of view, but if there's one thing I miss is a true cross-platform emulator. As in, I want an accurate emulator on my Switch

I don't think it could handle Ares (underclocked, at least) but maybe it could handle Simple64... that is, if it wasn't for the x86-64-v3 instructions requirement :\