Nice find, I like how the video points out that the difference isn’t as severe or amateurish as some people quickly concluded.
Interesting that the PAL version saw it tweaked despite it only outputting 25fps at the wrong speed anyway.
A Japanese exclusive version came out later that supported the rumble pack from what I recall. I imagine that would be the final version.
Astonishing work reverse engineering the whole game!
Finished up my N64 RGB mod this week. Was pretty simple, but I thought I messed it up and just about pulled my hair out trying to fix it.
Turned out to be a bad component cable, not the mod.
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Wow, good job! That’s some super clean soldering work.
Hey you guys! Looking to upgrade my emulation setup so I’ve been attempting to get most original controllers I can and am using them with a bliss box adapter. I recently purchased an N64 controller and as I’m sure you all can assume the control stick is very loose at this point. What do you all do with a controller like this? Can it be repaired? Are there any viable replacements? Should I look for a better condition OEM controller to try and swap parts?
Have people been following the reverse engineering of Super Mario 64? And subsequent release of rebuilt, upscaled versions (ports?) for PC and Switch?
I think my RGB modded N64 has had it. This is the second time I’ve had this issue (the first time I thought it was a faulty cable) my guess is without opening it up that there’s some kind of short or problem with the multi-out as there isn’t really any sync and only the blue signal is coming through.
I’ve contacted the modder that did the install (he’s on viletim’s list of approved installers) so I’m hoping he can give me a hand.
edit He’s a top bloke and has already gotten back to me - fingers crossed its an easy fix.
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I read about it. Seems like a really amazing feat. Nothing there too interesting to me personally since I prefer original hardware but kind of cool to see.
Yeah been following this, excited to downscale this to a CRT eventually plus add some perks that don’t drastically alter or ruin the game. Have you got it setup, is it easy to do?
60fps and the new camera option are really amazing but I read there maybe some LoD/Pop-in improvements too? pretty much all I could ask for outside of a remake in a new engine.
I’m not into HD texture packs or gaudy sweetFX injections as the art looks fine but interested to see how ray-traced reflections might look in the right places.
I tried it homebrew on Switch, very easy, but I’m not into the higher resolution look.
I’d much rather what you describe.
High resolution textures… I’m on the fence.
I’ve actually never played the game for than a few levels! Can you believe it? Many false starts over the years.
I’ve seen a few HD texture packs that really respect the originals and look good but most look like this to me:
I understand the use of them to improve the look as not everyone has space/money to invest in a CRT so don’t want to be too harsh on HD packs!
Oh to play SM64 with fresh eyes! I tried playing FF7 a few times but never got past a couple of hours so I know that feeling.
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Super Mario 64 is an odd one, because even the DS remake - purely visually speaking - didn’t really capture the same feel of the original graphics despite specially designed new textures.
Super Mario 64 is one of those games that seems to still look great played at 240p through a good CRT or with a good CRT filter. It has that mid-90s. But even beyond that the original visual style is just more ‘honest’ with the original textures and poly-counts. You’d lose that mid-90s SGI Workstation CGI look otherwise.
I agree I would go as far as to say a CRT or CRT filter is essential for the N64, especially the 3D titles, of course, it’s not the only console to benefit. It’s interesting to notice contemporary opinions shift towards PSX graphics holding up better than the N64 and seeing direct screen caps being held up as evidence it’s hard not to be impressed with some of the peak texture work in PSX titles. But I think solely judging it from one perspective unfairly dismisses the sum total of what the N64 brings to the table of which a CRT/CRT Filter is an essential part of.
I absolutely adore the N64 SGI promo renders these games had and how some games were going for that look.
Personally I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Super Mario 64 on its original console at original res or framerate or anything. And it plays best with an N64 controller.
If you were to talk about improving the framerate of something like Banjo Tooie at 240p I could see it being more interesting.
I would love to see an improved frame rate version of Ocarina or Wave Race with the ‘accuracy’ of a port like this.
Whilst I’ve not played this in 60 fps yet I imagine it would add much to the responsiveness to an already nimble Mario, something I’m excited to try.
I played Wave Race 64 recently (last year) in Not64 on my Wii which runs it at 640x480 so @2x with smoother polygons and frame rate. Loved it.
These days I have more options so I really should try Mario 64 again.
I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t get a Mario 64 3D on the 3DS, 3D would have done wonders for that game at 800 x 240 resolution, and Nintendo was very much focused on accuracy with the Ocarina of Time remake which was much appreciated (shame Star Fox 64 3D’s soundtrack had an inferior rearrangement though).
That’s interesting, I wonder if people are talking about PS1 visuals through the lens of a CRT filter or a modern display at higher resolution. I only bring this up because often the PS1’s visual general makeup benefits just as much from the CRT as the N64. The unfiltered textures - sometimes made with pixel art - gain an antialiased appearance similar to the sprites of the past, and the 240p output simply plays better with the system’s lack of floating point math. Whenever I see PS1 games running at higher resolutions the fixed point coordinates 3D objects snap to stick out even more like a sore thumb because while the resolution is more precise, those coordinates aren’t.
But yes, PS1 aside, agreed. You rarely see the purpose and intent considered, despite its importance. Articles like this deserve to be read more widely - they are eye openers. It would be great to have similar scoops for games in the latter half of the 90s.
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That link is amazing.
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The only thing stopping a port of the fan-rewritten Mario 64 is that 3DS doesn’t have a version of SDL2. I’d bet somebody is working on that right now.