Release Mupen64Plus 2.2

[TrashyMG]

I don't really understand why you want to stay in 320*200

On a CC unit, it could mean the difference of being able to play a game or not. 

 

[ptitSeb]

I've managed to get rid of the flickering, and with the gles2n64 plugin MarioKart runs a *lot* faster than with Rice. It's almost fullscreen!


Looks to be still rendering at 480 height rather than 240 though - might be the widescreen hack at work though? Mind you, other games (such as Animal Forest) seem to be also rendering at 480 too. And won't stretch to fill the screen, as you say.


Also can't disable the dreadful bilinear filtering either. That just looks so bad.


D.

Ok, I'll look at that. At least the filtering can probably be added to the config. The rendering height is strange, it should be 240... And the widescreen hack is only for Rice, no hack here...

 

[ekianjo]

I don't really understand why you want to stay in 320*200

On a CC unit, it could mean the difference of being able to play a game or not. 

Oh, dont worry, even on 1 Ghz units, a lot of games are running less than full speed.

 

[TrashyMG]

Oh, dont worry, even on 1 Ghz units, a lot of games are running less than full speed.

That really isn't a compelling reason for your argument.. 

 

[levi]

Mario64 runs better than before, but the widescreen support is badly flawed - run around in a circle in the very first area of a new game and you'll see the trees popping off the display (disappearing) as they move past the 640-wide native boundary. This happens for all sprite-based objects

I'd guess that's the game code culling sprites to speed up rendering, just as they leave the 4:3 screen area. You may need a patched image to extend this check (not that I've been able to find such a patch after a quick search).

 

[ptitSeb]

I've managed to get rid of the flickering, and with the gles2n64 plugin MarioKart runs a *lot* faster than with Rice. It's almost fullscreen!


Looks to be still rendering at 480 height rather than 240 though - might be the widescreen hack at work though? Mind you, other games (such as Animal Forest) seem to be also rendering at 480 too. And won't stretch to fill the screen, as you say.


Also can't disable the dreadful bilinear filtering either. That just looks so bad.


D.

 Ok, here is a how is configure my gles2n64 plugin on my CC



notice "framebuffer enable=1", "framebuffer width=400" and "framebuffer height=240" for the 320x240 or 400x240 rendering (400 r 320 doesn't change much)

than, for you taste: "framebuffer bilinear=0" for NEAREST filter

and "video stretch=1" for unconditional stretching (this one is a "hidden" parameter).

Also, not in the screenshot, make sure you have "auto frameskip=1" and "max frameskip=3"

Result:

 

[fusion_power]

I don't really understand why you want to stay in 320*200

On a CC unit, it could mean the difference of being able to play a game or not.

 True. My old CC Unit has really trouble with Full Speed. Mario 64 is OK but Lylat Wars is not even fluid onto the sinple training course. Even worse ingame. And I already had it set to low res. Maybe I use the wrong plugins, not sure what I had selected.

Smash Bros runs a little bit better but the Sound there is really bad. Again, no clue what plugins are the best. I hate that each game needs different settings.

Oh, dont worry, even on 1 Ghz units, a lot of games are running less than full speed.

So no chance to run Golden Eye fluid on my CC Unit? At least I hope to find the right settings to get rid of all of these graphic bugs. What's wrong with these RARE games?

Ok, here is a how is configure my gles2n64 plugin on my CC

mupen1.png

notice "framebuffer enable=1", "framebuffer width=400" and "framebuffer height=240" for the 320x240 or 400x240 rendering (400 r 320 doesn't change much)

than, for you taste: "framebuffer bilinear=0" for NEAREST filter

and "video stretch=1" for unconditional stretching (this one is a "hidden" parameter).

Also, not in the screenshot, make sure you have "auto frameskip=1" and "max frameskip=3"

Result:

mupen2.png

Thanks, that really helps me.

P.S.: Any Idea what could be faster: High Res without Anti Aliasing or low res with Anti Aliasing? Not even sure if MUPEn has AA but if it is an hardware function maybe this can help to make low res look better and still having good performance compared to high res?

 

[ZXDunny]

Just because you can use higher resolutions doesn't mean you should. And as I said, this is a subjective matter of taste, not superiority. Your opinion is wrong in my eyes, just as mine is wrong in yours.

 For PSX games you don't use the high res mod either I guess ?

Actually, I do - but the higher res of the PSX games doesn't negatively impact the visuals by adding bilinear filtering to objects tha don't need it due to the stretching. That black fringe really gets on my tits, and it's everywhere in N64 games played at higher res.

So I don't like to enable it, and that means that I have to run at low res. no biggie, because low res is how my N64 used to run, which brings me onto my next point:

One of the reasons why I think you opinion is wrong is that you are anyway playing on a LCD screen which has nothing to do with the CRT screens we had at the time of the N64. The CRT way of displaying things created a lot of smoothness that you cannot get on a pixel-perfect LCD mode of display. So, if the LCD anyway looks nothing like a CRT screen, I don't really understand why you want to stay in 320*200 because that 320*200 you get on LCD will anyway look worse than any CRT-displayed 320*200.

I ran my N64 on a Commodore 1940 Monitor with an adapter - the pixels were crisp and sharp, and that was a CRT. Your point is?

Notice "framebuffer enable=1", "framebuffer width=400" and "framebuffer height=240" for the 320x240 or 400x240 rendering (400 r 320 doesn't change much)

than, for you taste: "framebuffer bilinear=0" for NEAREST filter

and "video stretch=1" for unconditional stretching (this one is a "hidden" parameter).

Also, not in the screenshot, make sure you have "auto frameskip=1" and "max frameskip=3"

You sir, are god-like. Mario64 looks awesome and Mario Kart runs like a dream! This is so much faster than using the rice plugin! Many, many thanks.

D.

 

[Silent-Hunter]

I would actually like to get rid of the stretching entirely, and have all games display 4:3.

 

[ekianjo]

I ran my N64 on a Commodore 1940 Monitor with an adapter - the pixels were crisp and sharp, and that was a CRT. Your point is?

First, using your N64 in this way is detrimental because that's not how the games are supposed to be played at the time. Games were made to be played on low-res TVs and deviating from that experience is already a distortion in its own.

Second, on LCDs a pixel is never switched off if its state does not change, on a CRT it flickers constantly. Not sure what you are trying to prove, everyone knows well enough CRT monitors and LCDs look completely different, even if you compare with a CRT monitor instead of a TV. 

 

[ZXDunny]

Second, on LCDs a pixel is never switched off if its state does not change, on a CRT it flickers constantly. Not sure what you are trying to prove, everyone knows well enough CRT monitors and LCDs look completely different, even if you compare with a CRT monitor instead of a TV.

Jeez, I've been programming light gun software for years, I know how a CRT works The fact is that (yet again) my experience of the N64 was with large chunky pixels on a monitor which I also attached my Amiga to, which also had chunky pixels in 320x256. That's just what my experience of computing was back then. The CRT TV was for the Spectrum

Why are you continuing this argument? You're not going to change anything. Give it up. I have Mupen set up now how I like it, and that's the end of it as far as I'm concerned.

D.

 

[___]

I just discovered Mupen64 again. Read a little more about how to configure it right. On my CC I just couldn't get any games to run at decent speeds and now with my upgraded 1ghz Mario64 was still choppy as heck. Then I finally figured out that I had set up the wrong RSP plugin all along. Never really knew what it did and sort of ignored it. Pretty dumb but now I am really glad I got back into it. Thanks a lot ptitSeb!

First, using your N64 in this way is detrimental because that's not how the games are supposed to be played at the time. Games were made to be played on low-res TVs and deviating from that experience is already a distortion in its own.

...

Low-res and crisp pixels are in no way mutually exclusive. If you've been playing low-res games on a crappy tube, well that's too bad. I've been enjoying my neogeo, snes, mega drive and gamecube on a Sony PVM monitor via RGB, which barely flickers btw, and the pixels are wonderfully crisp. These games are not meant to be played on cheapo TVs that blurr everything. They are meant to be played on the best monitor you can get your hands on/you deem to be right. If you prefer a blurry image over a crisp one, then it's a matter of personal choice. Check out a couple of arcades and have a look at the real 15khz monitors (no multisync or the likes). Best picture you could want in a tube. Well if they aren't ancient that is. Sadly a lot of CRT machines do not get proper care and have terrible burn in. Getting harder to get replacement parts, too. My Naomi Cabinet has a TV tube installed since I wasn't able to source an actual arcade monitor. 300€ shipping cost is a little too heavy...

 

[ekianjo]

These games are not meant to be played on cheapo TVs that blurr everything.

Go to an arcade game system in Japan then. You will see what CRTs they use, and those are original hardware made for the said systems.

 

[elwing]

so, where is the popcorn?

 

[EvilDragon]

Okay, tried Mupen again yesterday, fresh install, first time on an ext4-card and ran into some issues:


1. Controls in the games do not work. Editing input config opens an empty document which can't be safed, so I'm pretty sure it's a permission issues.


2. ROMs always run using the default plugins. I can change the default plugin fine, but changing the plugin for a rom doesn't get saved. Again, I guess it's a permission issue with ext4

 

[ptitSeb]

Okay, tried Mupen again yesterday, fresh install, first time on an ext4-card and ran into some issues:


1. Controls in the games do not work. Editing input config opens an empty document which can't be safed, so I'm pretty sure it's a permission issues.


2. ROMs always run using the default plugins. I can change the default plugin fine, but changing the plugin for a rom doesn't get saved. Again, I guess it's a permission issue with ext4

Can you try this version? I tried to be more permissive with the rights...

 

[TrashyMG]

so, where is the popcorn?

Sorry was I supposed to share?

 

[___]

These games are not meant to be played on cheapo TVs that blurr everything.

 Go to an arcade game system in Japan then. You will see what CRTs they use, and those are original hardware made for the said systems.

LOL. If you had bothered to read my post entirely... that's exactly what I said. Go to an arcade and look at decent 15khz CRTs. Not blurry or anything. And as I said, I own a japanese cabinet and use several CRTs for video gaming.

 

[edgex004]

So about that N64 emulator...

I have tried a few more games and compatibility has certainly increased. Super Smash Brothers and Mario Tennis both work great. Majora's Mask is running way better than I ever thought it would.

Thanks for this update, ptitSeb!

 

[levi]

I have Mupen set up now how I like it, and that's the end of it as far as I'm concerned.

That's good to hear. It looks like people can now get mupen set up exactly as they like it - whether that's blocky pixels, low rez fuzz or new high-res polygons with blocky sprites. Hurrah for choice!