Ok, so I want to emulate N64 games.

[Cloud Strife]

Hey all, noob here. Before I get started, I just want to say that I think this place is awesome and I think you guys do a great job here! I look forward to getting to know many of you fellow addicts.

I've recently became addicted to the emulating scene big time. I've ran NES, Genesis, and SNES games with ease and now I want to run N64. From reading through the archives, it looks like they'll be a bit more difficult to run and require certain plugins. I've downloaded a ton of emulators and plugins for N64 already that were suggested by members on the archives here because I knew I would most likely need them.

Here's my dilemna. I'm on a laptop, and I know my graphics card sucks. In fact, I've done the directx diagnosis and can't even find what's in the thing. Here are the specs I do know:

Pentium III laptop
800 mhz
256 MB RAM
Direct X 8.0
1024x768 resolution
Windows 98
Crystal Sound Fusion

My questions are these:
1) Do I have any ability at all to run N64 games on this laptop, and if so, how do I run a basic setup with my emulator(s) to do so?

2) I've heard Project64 is the best emulator for N64. Can someone tell me which version of it is best and which games it will not run. I've downloaded numerous emulators and would like to know which ones work with which games. Also, I need help setting it and any other useful N64 emulators up.

3) I plan on purchasing a desktop in the near future. Which things should I look for in a new computer that will be either required or a good thing to have to run high quality graphics through emulators for N64, PS2, etc.? I know a good processor and video card is a must. Any particular type that would be the best, etc, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Fett aka hmm]

1) Your laptop should work
2) It should run almost every game youll find for download
3) Any new desktop computer you can buy will be able to emulate N64 with ease, PSX as well. Im not sure about the PS2 though, people have said that computers nowadays wont run it even if it was emulated succesfully. Basically you want a good fast processor, and a nice graphics card.

[Lord Riff Raff]

Project 64 1.5 + SP1

Plugins:

Direct3d 6 or 7
Normal audio plugin or No audio
Normal controller plugin.

You can easily run Mario64 or HM:64. Check the GameFAQ with PJ64 for other games that run well.

[Del_Boy]

1) It should work, processor speed is fine for most games (though I recommend 1964 for games such as Goldeneye or Perfect Dark). One caveat is you do need a semi decent graphics card, which you may or may not have in that laptop

As a test I would start off with Project64. Extact/install the file, then leave it at default plugins and attempt to open up Mario64 rom... why Mario64? Well it's one of those games that is pretty much guaranteed to work should you have the required specs.

Should you find odd graphics artifacts then change graphics settings, and unselect hide advanced settings. Then in the advanced tab try clicking force normal blending.

Should that not work, then try Glide64 + Evoodoo (get both from http://www.emutalk.net).

Glide64 should be put in plugins folder, Evoodoo should be put in main folder (ie C:/project64/) rather than (C:/project64/plugins) for example.

2) Download PJ64 then open up the Project64 .rdb file with notepad/word or some other text editor. That is your compatibility list right there Just search for the game you want to find compatibility for.

3) High speed processor, decent amount of ram, plus whatever Geforce or Radeon card is considered high end nor or then. As a rule a Radeon8500 or a GF3 type card are considered optimal for N64 (anything else is above and beyond, anything below may provide slightly less satisfactory blending on some games).

Lastly but not least, I recommend you take a good read of the PJ64 helpfile which is incredibly well written and able to deal with 95% of the questions you may have to ask (with regards to setting plugins up etc).

[Josh]

Another thing. I would recommend starting the resolution out at 640x480 fullscreen. If that works you can just keep testing higher ones to get the best one for you.

[Lord Riff Raff]

I'm going to point out that some res do weird things to certain games. Such as super smash doesn't like 800 by 600.

[Josh]

I have never had problems with resolutions on any games, but I trust your word.

[Neverin]

Cloud Strife, you are the first newb that has asked about this topic the correct way. You deserve a 5 vote. You have done some research before asking and your questions are decent.

[Del_Boy]

Originally posted by Lord Riff Raff
I'm going to point out that some res do weird things to certain games. Such as super smash doesn't like 800 by 600.

Not sure what you mean by this to be honest? Could you be more specific, what wierd things occur with this game at that resolution?

I haven't been able to find anything wrong at all - then again I don't tend to play this game much.

[Cloud Strife]

Thanks, Vanit--I'll return the favor!

Thanks for all of the advice, everyone. I'm going to try this out as soon as I get a spare moment, and I'll let you all know how it goes. Bleh--school always gets in the way. Two exams this week.

Very cool site, and I plan on sticking around to learn much, much more.

[Lord Riff Raff]

The border goes glitchy in game, at the "native res" and ones of multiples of it the artifacts that occur aren't as visible.

[Del_Boy]

Not getting that issue here, but I have seen it before - a while back. Gonna have to test this out a little.

What graphics plugin you using? Using Jabos D3D 1.5.1 here, am not noticing any glitching whatsoever. Also are you using the (E) or (U) version of the rom?

I suspect the (E)?

[Josh]

Getting a little off subject.
Del_boy do you know anything about the release of the new 1964. If they have released it already please tell me because I must have had my head under a rock. I would just like to know how the test was going since your thread just faded away.

[Cloud Strife]

Guys, I can't believe how easy it was!

There are still a few bugs to work out, but at least it plays. Mario played nearly perfect.. just the occasional clipping when turning from right to left, but I was amazed how good it looked on this laptop.

I did notice some problems with Wave Race and Banjo when running the Project64 1.5. I'd get a lot of black in sections and sometimes on Wave Race the entire screen would go black, then back to full color, then back to black again. The entire sky was black, in fact, but I was getting the rider, the water, and everything else. I tried fiddling with the graphics like del boy suggested, but it didn't help.

It wouldn't surprise me if some of these problems are due to my shatty graphics card, so that's ok if they are. Any help would be appreciated, though. Zelda, Banjo, Wave Race and Mario all WORK!

'Tis too good to be true.. I'm officially hooked.

[Del_Boy]

You may be fine using Glide64 + Evoodoo That combination generally has less problems with the shaders - hence will tend to run more perfect on lower end cards.

Great to hear you got a few games working though If you are getting good graphics at some point (before it goes black), then I wouldn't believe all is lost - your card must be able to handle it.

Del_boy do you know anything about the release of the new 1964

All I know, is it ain't gonna be much longer now, although no indication of a release has been indicated to any of the testers honest, hehe