Nintendo 64

[quartz wedge]

This is the way.

[broken creek]

Star of the show!

❤️ turbo core

[quartz wedge]

Easily hacked Switches are a lot cheaper than devkits too heh

[zinc dew]

I tried lol

[neon heron]

I thought the perfect controller for the n64 was the cd-i spoon controller?

[slow silo]

I thought the mode could work with the segacd?

Hell, the bad guys in the first Neptunia game, a game series about consoles personofied as humans, were named "arfore"

[broken creek]

I don’t believe so, just Dreamcast, Saturn and PSX-ish

[remote nexus]

I’ve bought all my retro consoles in the last five years, and I’ve bought no physical games for any of them. I have zero interest, money, space, etc. for collecting physical copies. In my case, it doesn’t make sense to keep the disc drives when I can use flash carts and ODEs and get the same experience without paying crazy aftermarket prices.

[outer condor]

Space is the big factor for me too really. I just literally do not have the space to keep a massive library of physical games. I'm not massive on everything being tied to digital accounts either, but with retro games ODEs and the like offer the best of both worlds - we still manage our own data, but without the physical space.

I'm kinda influenced by having to move countries multiple times and not being able to take my physical games with me. But also, my dad was a collector of both records and books. Rooms full of records and books from floor to ceiling collected over 50 years. He died last year, and I'm stuck having to figure out what to do with it all. I don't want my kids to have to deal with that when I pass.

I do buy physical games for modern consoles because it's still a lesser evil compared with our entire libraries being tied to digital accounts controlled by some corp.

[broken creek]

I agree. There’s just something about Sega CD and the tall boxes that I love. I didn’t pay much for my games, I got them before stuff was too bananas and some a pieced together; loose case here, loose manual there, etc. to save costs.

Disc rot is a real concern for all disc based systems though

I suppose bit rot will get the carts too like the N64’s carts

On that note my Super Mario 64 cart has sketch pins and it’s difficult to get it running on real hardware so thank goodness for MiSTer N64 core!

-# especially the turbo core 🙂

[topaz otter]

At this point, flash carts on the actual N64 have matured to the point that its practically foolproof

I guess real carts eventually will wear out with wear and tear

[tepid shuttle]

summercart64 my beloved

[topaz otter]

but if a mario 64 cart is just sitting in a closet somewhere with no power applied to it, nothing will happen to it

its also a mask rom and not flash memory, it has infinite reads technically and it can never wear out

all pressed discs, both cd and dvd have a definite shelf life, either with the air getting under the layers like my laserdiscs or the organic dye losing its reflectivity

but its more likely that all the PS1 lasers will die for the discs ever rot away, the lasers are alreaday gone on the two PS1s I had and I barely used them

[blazing knot]

If you really wanna get technical mask roms have a finite lifespan too

Entropy is a bitch

[topaz otter]

PS2 lasers are next up to die en masse

[topaz otter]

You'll have to post some technical data on that one

[blazing knot]

Source: the Sun will explode in couple billion years

[tepid shuttle]

can't wait

[topaz otter]

the sweet meteor of death will be here long before then

[blazing knot]

But until then we’ll have Mario kart 64

[topaz otter]

i revise my statement then, mask roms have until the sun explodes, provided that aliens don't store all the N64 roms in their four dimensional tesseract

but yeah, if you had a reprint of just the mario 64 board, you could just transplant the chips over

[primal cobalt]

does Sin and Punishment run ok on the n64 core? Thinking of trying it

[mint shadow]

It doesn't look to have any reported issues. In general almost all games run just fine on the core, with a few having graphical issues, and the few that do have performance issues seem to be resolved when using the turbo core.

[primal cobalt]

ok thanks

[zinc dew]

I’m a collector and you’re right

[remote nexus]

If space and money weren’t an issue, I’d be right there with you lol

[slow silo]

Incorrect, Mario64 used battery-backed SRAM to save. It will eventually lose your saves and no longer retain saves after power off if you don't solder in a new battery.

[wanton sun]

This build changes how interlace fields are presented. This fixed the issue of odd/even being swapped with 480i Libdragon content.
I tested some 480i games(pkmn stadium, Episode 1 Racer, RE2) and they seem to be fine.
Would be great to get more 480i content coverage and maybe also results from VGA/DirectVideo.

[zinc dew]

Awesome!

[quick light]

I'm about to finish my BG3 playthrough so I should have time for a nice N64 Resident Evil 2/Biohazard 2 playthrough.

So what should I look out for when playing? I use hdmi, 1440p video mode aswell as integer Scaling. But I have to use that fixed blank mode thing (no clean hdmi) to stop the resolution changes. (Aswell as running the game without the expansion pack)

[wanton sun]

i don't think it needs a playthrough, more like testing if any game that uses 480i has some issues now. It's a rather static setting, unless a game changes resolution over time.

[digital remnant]

@weary perch time to re-test your pokemon stadium scene maybe? 😄 maybe something changes now 🙂

[weary perch]

this won't affect the cropping

robert played around with it in a build awhile back, maybe he can dial in the values now with the most recent screenshots

ares and MiSTer match each other, so shots of ares apply to MiSTer's current cropping as well here: https://github.com/ares-emulator/ares/issues/2328

i haven't created the issue in the MiSTer github yet because i need to actually go in and get proper screenshots from MiSTer which i hadn't gotten around to yet

[weary perch]

#1096015979055697940 message

some additional context that followed #1096015979055697940 message

#1096015979055697940 message

[weary perch]

the lack of a true N64 240p test suite seems relevant here lol. there was an alpha a few years ago, i'll see if that has anything helpful

it seems to me in Pokemon Stadium 2 that there are roughly 2 pixels missing on both sides of the image when comparing MiSTer/ares to real hardware. the horizontal blurring does not help with this kind of pixel peeping, sheesh

it could be more than 2, but it doesn't seem like it could be more than like, 6? at a max?

2-4 maybe

i might be way off there, i'm trying to get an exact count now

looks like exactly 5 pixels are missing on the right side

hardware left, MiSTer/ares right

i count 10 from the darkest pixel to the edge on hardware and 5 on MiSTer

the left side might be harder, let's see

this still might not be exactly right yet, really would benefit from a grid pattern lmao

but i think that's basically right, best i can tell the right side is -5 pixels against hardware

the left side is vastly more difficult, just a sea of blurry near-identical pixels

yeah this is exceedingly difficult without personal access to an UltraHDMI or PixelFX or whatnot 🙁

i'm not entirely confident about 5 pixels on the right side either due to resolution mismatch between the game and the images

i wonder if i can get someone to make a libdragon rom that just shows a test pattern in various video modes

that might be the ticket here, idk

[weary perch]

hm, the old n64 240p test suite alpha does have 480i

[latent dagger]

I asked @gloomy pike about an update a year ago and he said something about pixel cropping back then too funny enough.

[gloomy pike]

I do have thaw 95% version, and we started working on that.

It is really relevant here because it affects the monoscope and we want to give an ntsc accurate version

It does have mdfourier and the rest ready

[weary perch]

pixel cropping details 🙂

precisely what we are looking at

[weary perch]

as far as the interlaced changes go i tested a bunch of games (Mia Hamm Soccer, All-Star Baseball 2001, Supercross 2000) with interlaced content and they all looked great, so seems good there

[topaz otter]

true, but that doesnt prevent the cartridge from working, just not saving

effectively the cartridge itself, as long as its not exposed to excess heat, cold, moisture, or high EMI(which I don't even know if EMI can hurt it anyway) it will still work fifty years from now

provided that you still have a console to play it on obviously

which is the real question, are there gonna be any N64 consoles left in fifty years, because I've personally destroyed hundreds trying to make an N64 portable

[dim kiln]

It doesn't take video processing options for HDMI on 20260107 (like Sony PVM for example), was that done on purpose?

[slow silo]

Chips can fail over time, there are plenty of Commodore64s with now dead SID or RAM chips. Also, looking at the PCB for Super Mario 64 I see capacitors. Those definitely fail over time, it's one of the most common repairs people do these days to retro consoles, recapping them.

[wanton sun]

can you give more details of what is not working? Only with 480i content or with all games? Are you sure it worked with the previous builds?
This build should only influence which horizontal lines are send to the screen and in which order.

[hard nimbus]

same here but i’m honestly considering selling off most of my retro consoles that are supported by mister

[outer condor]

The main reason I got a MiSTer is to not need a separate box for every single platform. I’m trying to consolidate things

[dim kiln]

I flipped back and forth between the latest N64 cores and the very last one you pasted a link to here in the chat seem not be able to set post video processing scan lines. If for example I try to set the Sony PVM scan line CRT option in video post processing it does not result in the usual crt scan lines but the video on HDMI remain essentially like a LCD...
Does this explain the problem?

[dim kiln]

More specifically still it seems that the vertical filter selection in video processing (using HDMI) is not honored..
Any one else seeing this or is it only me (core from 260107)?

[vapid hawk]

isnt there a seperate filter for vertical interlaced these days

[dim kiln]

When I try to replicate CRT scan lines on the HDMI output it ain't working on 260107 but it works fine on previous cores

[remote nexus]

The only two systems I have that overlap with Mister are N64 and Saturn, but if I’m feeling lazy and don’t feel like hooking them up, I’ll gladly play those two systems on Mister.

[wanton sun]

Thank you, could reproduce and found that 240p was broken.
New Build:

[topaz otter]

if your cartridge dies, mario didn't fail you

you failed him

[slow silo]

[weary palm]

https://youtu.be/PD5N_v4eY9o

[drowsy lantern]

I’m playing Body Harvest (for the first time ever) and I’m noticing that the pause menu icons become glitchy for a few frames whenever you select the Map or Items. Anyone knows if this occurs on real hardware?

[weary perch]

i don't think so, they should pop in fully formed on frame 1, i think

i'll check on my N64, but this is the first frame of a pause on hardware

[drowsy lantern]

No it happens when selecting them. Selecting the globe (happens for like a frame or two), and selecting the looking glass (happens longer).

[weary perch]

ohhh, yeah that happens on hardware

one sec

sorry i misunderstood

but here's a quick vid

[drowsy lantern]

Here’s an example of selecting the globe on MiSTer:

[weary perch]

well, that animation runs way too fast

but the static is correct

[drowsy lantern]

(You can see it happen at the same time as you hear the button press, for like a single frames. It’s very fast)

[weary perch]

USA ^

on hardware

the animation runs way too fast on MiSTer, probably 2x

but otherwise it's correct

[drowsy lantern]

Can’t view mkv on my phone. I’ll take a look at it tomorrow! But if you say it happens on real hardware I believe you

[drowsy lantern]

The game feels all kinds of janky. 😅

[drowsy lantern]

Alright then! Thanks for checking! 🙏🏻

[weary perch]

looks like MiSTer has slightly more "holes" in the menu eh?

that's interesting

looks like it doesn't glitch as much on hardware when you go into those menus

here's the magnifying glass

[drowsy lantern]

That mosaic effect plays when you close the menu, but it seems to also play whenever you select soemthing, but gets interrupted by the transition.

[weary perch]

they are different, but both notably less glitchy than MiSTer

[drowsy lantern]

Very curious! 🧐

[weary perch]

it's a nice find

both the discrepancy in the glitchiness and the animation speed

i'll make a github issue for it... probably tomorrow

it might be the same on ares as well, that's usually how these things go

yeah, ares is slightly wrong to hardware as well

that's pretty subtle, very nice spotting that

[wanton sun]

did anyone test this core on a CRT? #1096015979055697940 message
If we can get VGA+CRT and DirectVideo+CRT confirmed to be fine, I could release it

[green epoch]

looking now

[wanton sun]

if you do, please test one 240p and one 480i game. Or something like stadium 2 which uses both

[green epoch]

VGA port is fine. For direct video, you want direct video out to a CRT? Not a direct video screen and crt screen at the same time, yeah?

that was a dumb question. direct video into a CRT is also fine

[wanton sun]

very good, thank you very much

[grizzled phoenix]

works fine on my Commodore 1084 using the older analog board. Tested both interlaced and progressive resolution games

[wanton sun]

thank you, new version is released now. Changes since last release:

• Sys Update
• support 64 bit addressing mode (Systemtest)
• execute delay slot after exception (Systemtest)
• bugfix in datacache (fixes potentially random issues in all games)
• forced downtime after cpak/rpak switch (Beetle AR)
• implemented MI repeat mode (Libdragon, Systemtest)
• fix SRAM write mask (e.g. Shiren)
• fix interlace line ordering (Libdragon)

Will port over to turbo core in the next 1-2 weeks if nothing else comes up.

[lapis minnow]

Who needs FPGA when you can run native N64 ports on Dreamcast!
JK but this is cool. While I love FPGA N64 cores this is higher rez and 60fps as far as I can tell running on an ODE.

[quick arch]

Thank you 🙂

[scenic vapor]

@wanton sun , will you Update the Turbo core as well?

[hushed nova]

my guy, plz read

[zinc dew]

ok, pins updated and posted the update in #news

[broken creek]

Turbo core, my beloved. I will see you soon.

[lapis minnow]

Native port of Star Fox 64 running on Dreamcast.
Cool option if you have a Dreamcast (ODE and CD should work).
Builds on archive (dot) org

[wanton sun]

do we still have random analog audio issues or is that solved?

Just asking if i can take every turbo build or if I should upload multiple to let you test

[green epoch]

We stil have random issues. Which, shit, reminds me that I didn't test the core for that. If someone complains I will build another

[wanton sun]

What is the typical handling? upload 3 different? Wait for complains? I don't wan t to get the hardware just to test for this.
Maybe we can fix it?

[green epoch]

I have tried pushing sorg to look into it, but because it's something that can be mitigated by seed, he hasn't really had the appetite. I think Ricardo was going to do some tests, but interest faded out.

It's affected by vga_mode. Specifically rgb and ypbpr (I've not yet seen it in svideo or cvbs).

How I test is that I load up mario 64 with rgb set and let the attract loop for a couple of minutes, listening to static or pops. Then I switch to ypbpr and do the test again.

It's only on the stock 9.2 board design (the one with 2 pieces on mister-devel), and only with analog audio out

[wanton sun]

probably timing fails when these lines are removed: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Template_MiSTer/blob/master/sys/sys_top.sdc#L29C1-L31C43
but it's at least suspicous to completly ignore timing constraints for these ports, allowing the router to do whatever it wants with it

(assuming these are the pins used for analog audio)

[slow silo]

Is this similar to the analog audio issue that was on the Sega CD core?

[green epoch]

Yes, it’s the same bug. It affects all cores

(Potentially)

[topaz otter]

this is weird

sega does what nintendid 30 years ago

[marble cargo]

https://bskyx.app/profile/cilerba.com/post/3mc6crooymk2g

[lapis minnow]

Ironically when some of the games start up as a playful jab they say the inverse.

Star Fox and Mario Kart run better. Star Fox also does some funny logo stuff. Mario 64 has a couple oddities in performance or dissolve visuals but otherwise good.

[topaz otter]

well the dreamcast is a more powerful machine

theres also thirty years of optimization that can be done now to N64 games to let them literally run on anything

[slow silo]

Can't wait for the Commodore64 port of Perfect Dark

[chilly ember]

https://github.com/Rainchus/Quest64-Recomp/releases/tag/v0.1

[blissful plaza]

FYI.
The Turbo core used by Retro-Remake is more recent than the last from Robert here.
It is incorrectly compiled (with some green lines on screen, typical issue that we already saw here on bad builds).

I left a note to the users, to either install manually the current official Turbo core, from the MiSTer branch.
Or wait a better version of the Turbo next time & don't use the one from Retro-Remake (at the moment).

Nothing more, nothing less.

I would like to clarify that I will also be a future user of the SuperStation One.
However, I will not be providing any support for resolving any problems that may arise directly on the SS1, and certainly not for free.

[green epoch]

Scaler issues? I haven’t seen a build with that in a long time. I thought we fixed that compile issue

[twin barn]

In general if you compile the turbo n64 or turbo PSX core without doing a DSE run it's gonna end badly.

[green epoch]

yeah, that’s fair

Wonder why they didn’t just use the one from august

[twin barn]

It doesn't have the framework updates that they are using for some of their analog video output I think?

[wanton sun]

if it's more recent, it shouldn't have the scaler issue.
Maybe some old build with just new compile date.

[twin barn]

Yeah I hadn't considered that possibility either, good point.

I just figured it was a metastability issue.

[wanton sun]

Aside from the scaler timing bug which is fixed, the only issues I could see with instable Turbo builds have been (random) crashes.
That it works fully and has some graphic glitches is very unlikely.

[green epoch]

could it be caused if the timing were waaaaaaay off?

[wanton sun]

crashes are way more likely in that case than such glitches.
It's 99.9% the old scaler/timing issue.

[hushed nova]

maybe a bad template merge where the sdc file change didn't get copied over

[weary perch]

i mentioned this in the github issue, but i think the Tom and Jerry hang on the MiSTer core is just because N64 games expect all 0xFF for initialized EEPROM but the core/main seems to just give it all 0x00

i wasn't sure how to look at behavior for when an N64 game tries to look at EEPROM but no save file exists yet, but i'm guessing it sees all 0x00

seems like it should hypothetically be a trivial fix tho

for context, if you boot the game on MiSTer with no save file and try to play, it hangs on character select

this doesn't happen on ares, and it seems to be because ares initializes EEPROM with all 0xFF and MiSTer doesn't seem to do that from what i can tell

i manually placed a save file with all bytes replaced with 0xFF and it worked correctly on the core

i want to say there's one other game that doesn't like all 00 as initialized EEPROM, Mario Party 2 or 3 JP or something... but that one just tells you the save file is corrupted, fixes it and carries on merrily
edit: hm, can't repro anymore so maybe my memory is faulty here

at least, i'm guessing that's the issue there. it was a rare game that didn't like the initial save check on MiSTer

alright i was able to confirm the issue with Tom and Jerry. as expected, if you take a save file with all 0x00 bytes and give it to ares for the game, you get the same hang on character select as MiSTer

MiSTer should get back all FF bytes when polling an empty EEPROM, and currently doesn't @wanton sun

seems to get all 0x00 bytes

[wanton sun]

thank you for researching.
In theory it should be fine to replace this line: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer/blob/master/support/n64/n64.cpp#L415
with this: memset(save_file_buf, 0xFF, sz);

Maybe someone with build env for mister main can try.

[weary perch]

thank you for the link to the lines!

i think i need to reinstall Quartus again but if no one has gotten to it later today I'll build it

[hushed nova]

that's not quartus

[weary perch]

oh this is Main

yeah i kinda figured this was a Main thing when looking at the core

well hopefully someone can pop a build out, i'm over my head building main

[hushed nova]

try this

[unreal sundial]

Zakk is too fast 😅 if you ever need to do it, super easy now

Go to https://codespaces.new/MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer/

Press Create and wait.

Just type make in the terminal and main will be in /bin

[weary perch]

oh wow! nice work Nelson.

[unreal sundial]

someone else did that setup, I'm just slowing preparing a PR and is handy

[green epoch]

wtf, I don't have to run linux anymore?

nelson has saved me from linux

[twin barn]

I think for most eeprom especially the datasheets say to init to 0xFF. This was the same on the Genesis core back in the day, there was one game where it caused an issue.

It was the Star Trek Next Generation game 😛

[blissful plaza]

Seems to work great.

[weary perch]

yeah i think init to 0xFF is the general rule for EEPROM. seems like it only really affects this single game so that's probably why it wasn't caught before now

[wanton sun]

To be honest, i was expecting this to be the init value from main when no file is there.
Have 0xFF as init in my emulator as well. Also for SRAM and Flash.
In any case, should be good now. Who will do the pull request? 😅

[dim kiln]

0xFF is all types of ROM (like flash, eprom and prom) before being programmed where you put charge on the FETs gate and set bits to "0"

[hushed nova]

easy enough to send the PR

[unreal sundial]

ah, was just starting

[hushed nova]

I can probably compile+push a pr faster than github can spin up a dev container 😉

[green epoch]

Linux fight!!!

[unreal sundial]

hehe, I run local, was sharing for others 😅

(local w/ docker, macos for life)

[hushed nova]

spinning up a VM for a 15 second compile!

[unreal sundial]

new meme just dropped

[restive gulch]

This maybe a stupid question but. I have installed the 64 turbo core manually. Will update all now keep it updated?

[worn delta]

No. You need to enable Alt Cores DB from update all

[restive gulch]

Do I just press up on update all to look for Alt Cored DB and enable?

[worn delta]

Yep

[green epoch]

yeah, it's in Other Cores I think?

[quick arch]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eibXBo2YW0

[iron wren]

Classicube has an n64 port too!

[pine apex]

Wanted to share the Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct ports being developed by a Uruguayan programmer named N64GameBuilder. Both prototypes are running on Mister. We can say that both are in very early stages, but MK is much more advanced.

More info: https://www.youtube.com/@N64GameBuilder

[zinc dew]

Uruguay? That’s awesome! 🥳

[pine apex]

Yep Charrua hahaha

[zinc dew]

pins updated with a link to latest main

[cold pollen]

Ur u gay

[twin barn]

Did they let middle school out early?

[hasty musk]

Is an Savestate Option for N64 core dead? because a few Months ago there was maybe a solution. I know the Core very full

[topaz otter]

Doesnt mario have a pause button

just pause it homey and then come to it later, congratulations your state is saved

[slow silo]

How do you load back into it after turning off the mister?

[hushed nova]

doing what now?

[slow silo]

After changing cores

[topaz otter]

why would you turn it off

just buy another mister and load another game on that

I don't know why I've got to do all the thinking around here

https://tenor.com/view/we-all-cant-be-geniuses-brandon-the-ms-pat-show-not-everyone-can-be-a-genius-not-everyone-can-be-as-brilliant-as-me-gif-22509788

[iron wren]

What if zaparoo but instead of one game per card, it’s one mister per game and the card just launches whatever game is on that mister

[slow silo]

Assign save states to the cards and thats the only way to load your state

[iron wren]

memory cards: revengeance

[blissful wolf]

and?

[quick arch]

So good 😍
https://fxtwitter.com/pixelgames/status/2011429642599862351?s=20

pixel games SARL-S | Donut Dodo FANTASTICO (@pixelgames)

#N64 done.
︀︀#Dreamcast next!

**💬 12 🔁 17 ❤️ 100 👁️ 4.3K **

▶ Play video

FxTwitter · Jan 14, 2026, 1:26 PM

[zealous flax]

What is this supposed to portray?

[quick arch]

It is this game https://pixel.games/donutdodo/
it is ported on N64 so we could enjoy it soon on the N64 core 🙂

[slow silo]

N64 is an... interesting choice

I have that game on Steam, but it feels like something that could have run on a Genesis or SNES

[tepid shuttle]

yeah that's a famicom game if i've ever seen one

[slow silo]

I was going to say NES but the graphics would definitely need to be toned down

The gameplay is very NES though

It's meant to look and play like an arcade game one would have seen in the 80s

[digital remnant]

Maybe its running on a NES emulator for N64

[zinc dew]

i own it on Evercade and its a native linux port. Really fun game.

[topaz otter]

i see this guy eating donuts in this game like a madman and I suddenly feel seen

[weary palm]

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxEKivOl-OBrA3XFE6f2MdEadYtAXEG1Ja

[uncut gyro]

My mom was gaming every year of her life from 1970-something (trek on PDP-11) until her death in 2015 (PvZ 2 on iPad, Rock Band and PAIN on PS3)

Space Invaders and Centipede were her arcade favorites, so every time I see either one of those I will stop what I’m doing and play a round for her

[zinc dew]

Sorry for your loss dude

[fallen sparrow]

@atomic stratus has a homie

[weary palm]

If I live til 91, and Nintendo still makes decent Zelda games, you bet your bottom Swedish krona that I'll be a fan too. 😂

[lament escarp]

Didn't they stop like 20 years ago in 2006?

[blazing knot]

No totk was pretty good

[magic girder]

Last good Zelda game was echos of wisdom

[plush summit]

TELL EM

Echoes was so fun

[blazing knot]

I’ve never played it

[covert bough]

I was kinda disappointed with echoes. Even though I like the premise I felt like the puzzles didn’t go far enough. The bed bridges were usually the solution

[magic girder]

You got to play as Zelda though!

[slow silo]

You played as Zelda TWICE on the CD-I!

[covert bough]

I like playing as Zelda and I hope they let us do it again

[zinc dew]

Is this the little baby convention where we talk about our little baby games like echoes of wisdom!!???

[chilly ember]

Yea

[neat sierra]

goo goo ga

[chilly ember]

My favourite street fighter is super puzzle fighter

[zinc dew]

I genuinely just laughed out loud at that

[zinc dew]

That game kicks ass

[drowsy lantern]

I’m currently playing Body Harvest for the very first time and oh my god what were they thinking??? The game only allows you to save after you complete an entire level including the boss, which are insanely long and routinely take upwards of an hour to complete, and if you die at any point, you start over. 🤯 And the game features many ways for to die in an instant, including enemies that can one-stomp-kill you if you’re not careful. Fall in water too far from land? You’re also dead. Jesus Christ.

[magic girder]

Sounds like a NES game

[chilly ember]

Sounds like grand theft auto

[uncut gyro]

Same.
I love how it’s a junior version of TotK, but it feels like they over-responded to play testing feedback. I would’ve preferred talking flowers or something that give you deeper hints if you’re appearing to be stuck

[covert bough]

right, or those stones that you hit for hints in the DS games. I wouldnt have even minded if they got rid of the shadow link combat and just doubled down on the puzzles and made them harder

[topaz otter]

a lot of third party N64 games feel like they weren't play tested at all

like when you go into that stupid cave level in chopper attack 64

and fight a boat with a million guns

its literally frustrating insanity

or those rambo guys who run up and jump on your chopper

and they scream

[drowsy lantern]

At least in NES games you generally have lives. Here you have one life.

[topaz otter]

play blues brothers on the NES, the only life that matters is the one you'll want to take after about ten minutes of that crap

festers quest gets a special mention

[wanton sun]

you can save in the middle by going back to a save spot, but it's often not useful.
At least you understand why I never beat it as teenager. PAL version on normal is also harder than NTSC.
But at least I made it through the NTSC version on the core.
Dying to some mistake is somewhat acceptable, but the game also has bugs, e.g. getting stuck in the ground and sometimes feels unfair like sliding down a slope into water when doing one wrong step.

[slow silo]

At least people from PAL regions got a funny commercial for Body Harvest
https://youtu.be/NwhTWC8Iiqw?si=JbfQHwLgVc4mX7oJ

[topaz otter]

are any bodies actually harvested in this game?

[magic girder]

The bodies of the doubters who thought that N64 wasn’t possible on MiSTer

[jolly turret]

I still haven't really played any other Zelda game after OoT, but then I also don't currently have a lot of time I can invest into gaming.

[slow silo]

So... almost everyone that has been here since early 2022? 😛

[magic girder]

Yes, including Robert, at first 😅

Core is an absolute technical marvel

[slow silo]

If it's a technical Marvel does that mean it's a specific DC? 🤔

[hushed nova]

I don't think all those 'n64 is impossible' people were wrong/are wrong now. Robert is just very good at figuring out what corners he can cut/accuracy he can sacrifice and still produce an acceptable result

[magic girder]

Of course

[hushed nova]

and I don't think anyone answer that question years ago was answering it with the thought of 'maybe it will work if we patch some games'

[magic girder]

Agreed, but the fact that everything works as well as it does, despite all the limitations, workarounds etc is still very impressive

[zenith orchid]

They're definitely right. It is impossible to make a truly authentic(as much as it could be in FPGA) N64 core. But I consider the core we do have as nothing short of a miracle

[slow silo]

Didn't Robert prototype a 100% N64 FPGA core, just that it would not fit on a DE-10?

[zenith orchid]

I believe he writes a software emulator as a means of simulating how it would work in FPGA

[topaz otter]

Robert is actually that good is what it is

compare his approach to analogues, in which they were way past their promised RTM date and still only got basic features out the door

and this is an entire company full of people that making retro consoles is like their only job

[plush summit]

That's the benefit of the project, no need to wait for all the gears to run to try out a core

[topaz otter]

they got spanked by robert is what they did, beat to the punch and the combination of the mister and the n64 core is a better value with better performance

[plush summit]

The best part is that people wait for years for an "accurate" N64 core, just to end it being on par with something available years ago 😛

[slow silo]

I thought the best part was the rap video Kaze made dunking on the Analogue 3D?

[topaz otter]

accurate is a strong word

how does the average analogue enjoyer know what accurate is

[plush summit]

hence the quotes 😛

[tepid shuttle]

i imagine there's a good chunk of analogue users who don't even know what FPGA is, and many who do probably think it's magic that equals 100% perfection

[quaint otter]

Any update on this? Mind if I open an issue on n64_mister if not?

[wanton sun]

Have you tried it recently? I thought the game was working fine, just the translation is broken. (Translation itself, not only on the core, it has a bug)

[quaint otter]

uhh here I'll try to hack one into my save and try it out

[quaint otter]

I tried them all, they're all working. Sorry about that, cheers

[zinc dew]

Do not worry!!! Your efforts are appreciated and it’s great to see you try to help bring attention to issues!!!!

[wanton sun]

And we also don't complain about non-issues 🙂

[zenith orchid]

That's a really good policy.

[mossy vector]

I'm watching Thabeast721 play Polaris SnoCross live on YT, and the game is consistently locking up. It's a flash cart but HDMI modded hardware. Dunno if that helps but I wouldn't fault the core.

[topaz otter]

its the game

Yes, the N64 version of Polaris SnoCross is known for being buggy and prone to freezing or "locking up," with reviews mentioning it locking up early in gameplay and glitches like passing through walls before crashing, making it a notoriously unstable port compared to other N64 titles

was mentioned in gamespots review in 2006

[mossy vector]

he just gave up for today. it's that bad when trying to play at a high player skill level.

[wanton sun]

He should patch the ROM with Rulesets patch, probably helps on a real n64 as well 🙂

[weary perch]

Polaris SnoCross is a very buggy game. Fun fact, if you set a leaderboard time and watch the replay, the replay itself "sets" the time again so it duplicates the time on your leaderboard 😄

it seems to be the game most likely to hang on a real cart/N64. Wipeout 64, Battlezone, and Aidyn Chronicles all have issues with random hangs on real hardware, but Polaris is the biggest offender it seems

[magic girder]

I played it a bit when I started working on the core. Might be buggy, but it’s fun!

[weary perch]

it is pretty fun, i agree

the PS1 version is the original, it might be a little less buggy actually

they definitely didn't seem to fix any bugs when porting, most likely just introduced new ones

[covert bough]

Has anyone tried the OoT rom hack Zelda: Sands of Time on the core? Looks cool, meant to be an alternative sequel where Ganon won

[magic girder]

Spoilers

[sullen harbor]

Z fighting issues that are only fixed on a specific emulator called parallel launcher with the glide64 mode enabled and you need the turbo core or it wont run well
Tried it on analogue 3d at full overclocking. There is significantly less zfighting though still present
Did not try original hardware

[covert bough]

ah ok will have to give it a go myself

[sullen harbor]

This is why I wish static recomp worked with romhacks. Drop the ips or dps in a folder and pick it from options.

[covert bough]

gave it a shot on turbo, runs at a relatively stable 20fps. Some minor z-fighting but nothing egregious. Very playable. Vibes in the game itself are super strange but it's interesting

[drowsy lantern]

Castlevania 64 ✅

[zenith orchid]

nice!

[bright lotus]

Great game, real surprise for me

Now go for Legacy of Darkness

[rich iron]

anyone seen these before? 5mb controller pak

[bright lotus]

It's just switching memory banks

[rich iron]

ohh i see, still cool tho, the only other one i know that does this is from datel called 4meg

[slow silo]

Technically the N64 was supposed to have larger memory cards, but they were never officially released other than a special one released only in Japan for a single game as part of a contest. Because of this it's very hit or miss how well or poorly a game supports a memory card that's larger than it should be.

It's fairly pointless anyway since they were still limited to 16 saves regardless of how much space you had. The design of those things was a complicated mess

[sullen harbor]

Does anyone recommend a replacement stick for N64 other than 8bit do or the really fucking expensive metal one

I wouldn't mind one akin to the Saffun stick to be honest

[lament escarp]

Check out kitsch bent

They sell replacement parts

Or intec.

[slow silo]

I replaced mine with a hall effect one, not sure if that's what you want

[sullen harbor]

As long as its not gamecube style

[slow silo]

Sadly it is, really frustrating that everybody just seems to make GameCube style replacement sticks

[sullen harbor]

been sold out for a month now

[sullen harbor]

You know what I would be fine if it was a tall stick

but noooo

I can't even get the 8bitdo kit cause its sold out everywhere

[lament escarp]

https://a.co/d/1OXeWoR

If it's like the stick from the intec modkit it's fine

But you should do some research first

[slow silo]

That metal one is insane. It's like, what, $200-300 for all the parts? And it's not like it's a drop-in replacement, you have to take your existing stick apart and replace it's plastic parts with the metal ones. And it dosen't even replace ALL OF THE WEAR PARTS!

The plastic gears, which are another wear part, you just re-use

Are they made out of gold or something?

[lament escarp]

I put some grease in my intec modkit stick in hopes it'll slow down the wear.

[sullen harbor]

Not currently available in Canada unfortunately

[sullen harbor]

You can buy prebuilt kits now

it's even more expensive

[slow silo]

That.... "solves" like, the lowest priority of all the problems I mentioned, while causing a new problem of it costing even more

[sullen harbor]

yep

Its like, can I be honest

I have 2 saffun controllers

they're actually way better than I thought theyd be

and the stick runs great

Like I did the test

and its accurate

if not as "hit the corners hard" like the og stick

If someone put that stick out as a replacement

I would honestly be happy

[slow silo]

Tried looking those up. Are their only options USB or wireless? No wired N64 version?

[sullen harbor]

There are

BUT their controllers dont work with transfer pak

or rumble I think

[slow silo]

🙁

[sullen harbor]

I mean I have the wireless one. It works

I also have the 8bit do controller it also works

I also have the eswap prox which i can configure like the 8bitdo controller
So I'm not like starving for controll options

[slow silo]

I have a controller I put a hall effect stick in

[sullen harbor]

but I have a pair of og n64 controllers that need restoration

[slow silo]

My original controller I tried replacing the stick

But now that I use it, it has a weird rubber band-like effect at one angle, pretty messed up

[sullen harbor]

new button mebranes
New shell on one of them

[slow silo]

I damaged the shell of the one I put the hall effect in

[sullen harbor]

Yeah. I never get that with the saffun stick

[slow silo]

oh well 🙁

[sullen harbor]

So like if they sold me the saffun stick

I would fucking buy it in a heartbeat

[slow silo]

I think I forgot to undo the screws of the memcard port, but the platic was so old and brittle that it just came off, and then when I tried to screw it back together it was refusing to do so because the broken bits were getting in the way and I didn't notice

[sullen harbor]

I actually tried to disassemble a saffun controller to salvage the stick but the mother fuckers soldered it to their board

[slow silo]

Are you sure there is a wired N64 saffun controller? All I see are wired usb, wireless usb, or wireless N64

I need to type slower

[sullen harbor]

https://www.amazon.ca/FISUPER-Controller-Classic-Joystick-Console/dp/B09TDCLVV8/ref=sr_1_23
Different "brand"

Same stick

[slow silo]

I am a little skeptical that these random lowest budget controllers would be any good

[sullen harbor]

They most likely arent

But I have used the Saffun wireless

On both mister and analogue 3d

via dongle on mister and wireless connector on A3D

[slow silo]

Tried the controller tests on the stick?

[sullen harbor]

Yep

[slow silo]

dongle? You mean snac?

[sullen harbor]

nope 2.4g usb

it has both options

[sullen harbor]

saffun stick

[slow silo]

Oh, I think if you go through USB it makes the stick act closer to an N64 stick and is not an accurate measurement of how the stick is actually acting, especially if you were to use it on a real n64

[sullen harbor]

Hmm

Well I can test on my analogue later

[slow silo]

It migth be the same, I think you would need a N64 version, possibly even a wired one, to see. I don't have an analogue, the only devices I would use it on are my mister and my actual n64

Hence hwy I want one with an n64 port, I have a n64 snac adapter

[weary perch]

@wanton sun would it be possible to take a quick look at Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs over Clean HDMI? you get a half-height image on the top, and flickery mess on the bottom half. i think it's the only game i've seen with an issue on Clean HDMI

must be doing something weird with how it does the interlacing

seems to be an outlier in a few ways 😄

just note that you have to go in-game to get the 640x480i res that's broken. menus are 240p and work fine.

[wanton sun]

Yes, that's possible. Clean HDMI required the full valid framebuffer to be in RDRAM.
If the game does PSX-style 480i, by having only a single framebuffer and render odd/even lines each other frame, clean HDMI will not work.

[weary perch]

that makes sense

[weary perch]

Clean HDMI is such an incredible feature. it's a major feature over both ares (has a bypass VI setting, but it is broken for interlaced games which is imo the main reason you'd use it in the first place) and A3D (forced weave for all interlaced content, no VI bypass)

[weary perch]

@wanton sun i have a question about how Clean HDMI works on the core. if i understand correctly, in simple cases like most 240p games, the output resolution MiSTer reports is effectively the raw framebuffer or what SGI docs call the "Color Image" that is set by the RDP before it is passed to VI for processing. e.g. Super Mario 64 reports 320x237 as that's what the pre-VI framebuffer size is. is that a correct understanding?

e.g. games which use true 480i seem to report 640x474, which matches what Zoinkity wrote about the VI here: https://pastebin.com/pJG5SBnW

"480" is a myth. Normal output (difference in these values) is 474.

[wanton sun]

yes, clean HDMI will use the data fetched from VI but instead of processing it in VI, it's written to a framebuffer in DDR3 that is directly given out by the scaler.
After a full image, i calculate the resolution for the scaler and set it

There are some games that do full 240/480 height, but yes, most do 237

[weary perch]

oh, really? i hadn't found one that uses all 240/480 yet

[wanton sun]

not sure if official did, but had some homebrew recently with 240

so it's not impossible

[weary perch]

that makes sense. I think Libultra may be limited to 237/474

libdragon is another story

[wanton sun]

yes, it was libdragon based

[weary perch]

i am slowly compiling a sheet to document all of the various framebuffer sizes, scissored regions, and VI X/Y scaling values for retail games now, and it seems Clean HDMI will just effortlessly spit out the framebuffer sizes without me having to do something like make a fork of Parallel-RDP to spit them out for me haha

will definitely need more work to get the scissored regions, though

https://n64brew.dev/wiki/Reality_Display_Processor/Commands#0x2D_-_Set_Scissor

sort of an internal RDP cropping mechanism, so games can cut out stuff (usually in the overscan area) to increase performance

i think this is what Wave Race 64 uses for its letterboxing

it is definitely not what Banjo/Conker use, though. They do some weird stuff with framebuffer sizes and VI scaling that no other dev did

[wanton sun]

i always wanted to add autocrop, which would check the fully black rows and columns and limit the resulting resolution to the "content"
The main issue when doing that is to keep the correct aspect ratio

[weary perch]

i think checking the scissor coordinates could help with most games black bars

only Rare games might need special consideration

aspect ratio could be another database thing if we ended up going that road

i think each resolution is basically 1:1 with an aspect ratio... probably? my brain melts a little trying to think that thru

actually Rare games are already solved by Clean HDMI since the raw framebuffer already excludes the black bars

i believe with scissored regions the framebuffer would still have them

[wanton sun]

It does however mess up the aspect ratio slightly

[weary perch]

e.g. Wave Race 64 shows 320x237 at all times, regardless of border size

yeah the aspect ratio does get messed up slightly. i'm thinking the database file could have this resolution=this aspect ratio and apply them automatically in Clean HDMI but i'm really getting ambitious now 🙂

[wanton sun]

I would rather have the calculation in the core.
PSX has a large lookup table.

but i think with some clever logic we should at least get very close to original aspect ratio without too much effort

[weary perch]

most games are within a pretty acceptable margin, but yeah the ones that do wacky stuff like 238i need custom aspect ratios currently

thank you for the insights, i really love that Clean HDMI just gives me all these framebuffer sizes so easily. now i know weird details like each of the All-Star Baseball games runs at a slightly different pre-VI resolution:
1999: 584x432
2000: 584x436
2001: 584x434

only Acclaim could answer for these crimes.

[weary perch]

@wanton sun have you seen RH#002 here? https://n64brew.dev/wiki/Reality_Display_Processor/Hazards

Affected games
Monster Truck Madness The text in the menu will appear corrupted if an emulator doesn't correctly reproduce the behavior of this hazard.

i'm adding this note to the GitHub issue as well for easier reference

[mossy vector]

that's probably enough english to understand if you read it 17 times and draw a diagram of TEX1 's value shifting into TEX0 on the second cycle in two cycle mode, and TEX1 being loaded too early with the next texture sample of the first texture. Then back at the first cycle, TEX1 shifts into TEX0 as expected while TEX1 becomes the correct sample of the second texture. Surely Robert can make sense of it. It's a miracle it works at all.

[drowsy lantern]

Castlevania 64, but with the girl this time. ✅

[weary palm]

https://youtu.be/Q03uRf3PUC8

[blazing knot]

Nintendo fire this man

[topaz otter]

I don't understand the obsession with taking mario and link and then adding RTX and all this garbage

its weird

[bright lotus]

Wait

That was unironic?

[lament escarp]

I turned off rtx in the ps5 version of resi7 since it looked weird as the game simply wasn't designed for realistic lighting and it looks way better with it's moody, unrealistic shadows.

[outer condor]

It’s a real victory for Nvidia marketing that people call ray tracing ‘rtx’ even outside the context of Nvidia cards

[lament escarp]

Dunno bout that. Nintendo got pretty annoyed when everybody called any console a Nintendo.

[blazing knot]

There’s no such thing as an Nvidia

[iron wren]

Is that Frieza

[magic girder]

If there were, it would be an xbox

[cyan dome]

i am xbox

[slow silo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Y_d_Lhp60

[slow silo]

The shorter/easier to say term always wins. Like people calling a Wii Remote a Wiimote, that isn't actually an official term. This can sometimes bite a company in the ass since if people use it too often as a generic term they can lose their trademark on it. Happened to Escelators and several other things.

[waxen oyster]

Hmmm, I use my MiSTer in Direct Video mode to my Morph but I wonder if I should try excluding the N64 core so I can use Clean HDMI and then set the AR from the Morph.

Edit: Ah, I think I prefer the VI filters most of the time.

[outer condor]

RT is shorter than RTX though!

[slow silo]

I've seen RT used too, though RTX is still shorter than saying "Ray Tracing". Also it's more obvious what you mean when you say RTX over RT.

[weary palm]

i'm sorry i made you all puke. i thought it looked cool.

[lament escarp]

We all make mistakes.

[topaz otter]

the nintendo hire this man thing is a meme

someone makes "realistic" mario 64 or whatever with realistically rtx lighted coins and it looks like peaches castle but at disney world

but its not a game, its a joke

the one with ocarina gets me too

because it looks like ocarina of times' dated ass gameplay but with 2025 graphics

https://tenor.com/view/nintendo-hire-this-man-unreal-engine-zelda-unreal-zelda-ocarina-of-time-gif-15945130601921317154

[tepid shuttle]

waiter! more unreal engine slop please

[topaz otter]

listen, I'm not hating on anyone putting a lot of work on remastering old games with new technologies

its neat stuff

and theres a lot of talented people out there doing it

[tepid shuttle]

i am. i think they're awful lol

[topaz otter]

i just dont think mario 64 of all things needs 120fps and ray traced graphics

[paper crescent]

Why does this strangly remind me of Shrek?

[upper pivot]

Isn’t there someone recreating a high res version of OOT?

[lament escarp]

I feel like there have been a million of these unreal trailers over the years but I've never seen a game completed.

[mint shadow]

They're just tech demos recreating a tiny slice of these games for their portfolio, none of these are ever meant to be completed in full

[bright lotus]

Was this unironic???

-# explanation of a meme I was aware of for 20 years

[slow silo]

Speak for yourself!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzEUAU6yQIw

[weary palm]

Why are you like this?

[solar slate]

This works because it is basically the "official" hi res promo material from back then in motion. The OoT Unreal videos showing all non official art styles the creators came up with. That alone is a problem when it comes to Zelda stuff in general.

[slow silo]

Well yeah, that was my point. It can be done well if it doesn't just try to go hyper realistic Unreal Engine. Otherwise, you get that youtube video I posted before that.

[outer condor]

It’s just a meme really,. Someone posts e,g. A video of realistic Mario rendered in Unreal Engine and half the comments are ‘hire this man Nintendo!’ despite a full game with that aesthetic likely to be a disaster

[bright lotus]

I find this one at least trying to be novel

https://youtu.be/lKMD4t2Dbl8?si=ioZHGF59QkuJhsk1

[blazing knot]

I say “Focus, M” all the time now because of this

And the way his quipping is cut off by the voice clip for this fireball? Pure art

[cyan dome]

the video footage in that vid is from another classic (ironic) mario in unreal video

[topaz otter]

Link's green and theres a swamp?

Source P: Be careful M, that mansion reeks of ghosts

Mario: Ghosts? Heh, who you gonna' call? Me.

[paper crescent]

I was thinking more of Duloc and the castle area.

[upper pivot]

I thought the OOT one was complete?

I saw a playthrough

https://youtu.be/VLiFrCSmQrI?si=dFXF-s3levgLVA6j

[green epoch]

Is there a part 2, because that ends at the temple of time

[upper pivot]

https://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-version-of-the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-unreal-engine-5-5-4-fan-remake-released-featuring-zoras-domain/

I think he’s recreated some maps

[upper pivot]

Not sure haha

[topaz otter]

remember when all of the avengers whooped on thanos for like 45 minutes

and it did nothing

thats accurate n64 emulation

[dim kiln]

Here is tweaked turbo version of the N64 core that boost the RSP with 50% to 93.75MHz (and memory to 187.5MHz) but leaves the CPU at the nominal 93.75MHz (as opposed to the 80MHz turbo version that has all clocks raised). It should perform well when there is lots of geometry and help dips in FPS. Nothing else is changed from Roberts 260112 nominal version.
I have tested it quite a bit but can't guarantee that it will work for everyone so have that in mind when using it.
Feel free to let me know if it works or not 🙂

[zinc dew]

lol I love it when a random new guy drops in and is like “here’s this really cool shit I’ve been working on”

[topaz otter]

and named after food!

[neat sierra]

And everyone likes corn

[topaz otter]

as is the tradition

[neat sierra]

Oh damn beat me

[slow silo]

At least it's not a core that breaks everything for the sake of running Mario Kart in 60FPS widescreen or something. 🤣 I remember when Kitrinx accidently released an unstable NES core that had some debug features left in where everything in super mario brothers would disappear one by one

[woeful grove]

that was pretty hillarious

[zinc dew]

I’ll give this a download and see how it is, if it’s all good I’ll pin a link to it.

@green epoch + @worn delta pinging for visibility.

[dry oak]

It will be interesting to see which games get a fps boost, if it doesn’t work I guess @zinc dew
Gotta throw that OTHER Cirrus GPU in haha

Gotta throw that OTHER Cirrus GPU in haha

[dim kiln]

@zinc dew yeah let a few check it out fist, just like the the normal turbo core it is a bit out of spec so it will be interesting to see if it runs ok for most. I had no one else to try it on so we will see
It should help on games that struggles with FPS but since CPU is running @spec it might be quite compatible too.
Turok3 gains a decent amount of frames for example

[green epoch]

I’m wondering if (assuming testing goes well) this should just be the new turbo core - merge the changes back into the turbo branch. Would be up to robert of course

[worn delta]

If there are no downsides to this update then that is fantastic, although I reckon it will need some proper testing to make sure there are no undesirable effects anywhere

[quick light]

So to someone as dumb as me. This core should improve the fps of certain games more than the normal turbo core?

But il also try and get testing too. Il whack it on my mister now

(I really need to set up ftp for my mister)

[rare relic]

What's the benefit of not raising the CPU speed?

[quick light]

For me, these turbo cores are my favourite cores on the Mister. So im very happy to see some potential improvements to fps.

I recall majors mask being a good game to test for shenanigans

[lean sable]

Perfect dark + romhack (http://n64vault.com/pd-multi-levels:perfect-dark-plus) during multiplayer seems more stable and smooth on the 80mhz turbo core. It's a bit jumpier and inconsistent on the 94mhz core for me.

[quick light]

Normal turbo core = average 10fps when conkers going to the pub (just before the door is opened)

Your cool turbo core = average 12 fps when conker is going to the pub

So there is an improvement. (I’m not saying it’s small. I don’t know of a game for the n64 that’s good to test fps, unlike PSX with Duke Nukem Time to Kill)

[slow silo]

Well, what did you expect with a game that says time to kill 😉

[quick light]

It’s just my go to turbo core checker. Sometimes people would build the 2XPSX cores and needed someone to test if it was 2XPSX

I really want to enjoy Conker Bad Fur Day but the non smooth frame rate hurts my head

[dim kiln]

Usually the RCP is much more starved then the CPU on the N64. So if there is a heavy load on the fill rate and geometry it helps more to up the RCP since the CPU is still not overly loaded. Also since the CPU is not overclocked it might behave more nicely with games.
I don't think this version of needs to replace the original turbo core but perhaps it might spawn new ideas for an even faster core 😄

[quick light]

Anything to help Bad Fur Day run at a smooth 30. I’m all ears haha

[night silo]

There's no 80MHz turbo core with robert's 260112 changes yet right?

[dim kiln]

no he was going to add one soonish

[night silo]

Gotcha, looking forward to trying yours for a bit shortly!

[dim kiln]

the new 80 core will run the same as the old one but with the new bug fixes he now fixed for the default core
Unless he of course changes frequencies also

[night silo]

Right, makes sense

Do you think any games will still run better on the 80 core than this new one? Or is that scenario unlikely/rare

[dim kiln]

from what I read above it seems to depend on a game by game basis. Upping the RCP freq only and with 50% will help everything that struggles with rendering but the exact mix is not very obvious always

[bright lotus]

I would test with Perfect Dark's recompiled gcc ROM which has actual framerate graphs

[night silo]

Makes sense ty. Will be fun to test both in that case

[dim kiln]

I have tested Turok3 which is a slideshow especially in hires and it seems to run way better with this 94MHz core

also beetle adventure racing seems to run very smooth but I have not tested it with the 80 core so can say if there is a difference

[wanton sun]

Main advantage is the higher rendering speed. This can be reached because RCP and CPU have to run somewhat synchronous.
Usually CPU runs at 1.5x RCP speed, therefore when RCP is at 80Mhz, CPU runs at 120MHz on the turbo core.
With this new core CPU runs at 1x RCP. The main advantage is that RCP can be overclcoked further than CPU. (~28% vs ~50%)
Also RCP might be more important for some games.
Some others will depend more on CPU (e.g. Starcraft), so they would not like this change.
Not sure yet what to do with it. Having 2 different turbo core over time seems not the best strategy. So let's see what the results are.

Another possibility would be to create a fully async interface between CPU and RCP.
This is horrible to debug, but lets just assume we don't debug issues on the turbo core anyway.
Then we could run e.g. 25% overclock for CPU and 50% for RCP.

[quick light]

The supercharged N64 core

That would be cool

[dim kiln]

The CPU will still see a benefit with this 94MHz core since it will have higher memory bandwidth but seems to matter less

[wanton sun]

CPU will slow its own RAM access down unless fast RAM is used in the debug options.

This seems unnatural for the turbo core, but some games really dislike super fast fetches and it generally doesn't help, even for CPU bound games

[zinc dew]

Huuuureee! Huuuureee! Huuuureee!

Get 100Mhz, win a prize! Step right up, and give it a shot! Get 100Mhz, win a prize!

[chilly ember]

What's the prize?

[dim kiln]

At least I am happy that it seems to work for most if not all. I was a bit worried for the high memory clocks and I only could test it on my setup

[zinc dew]

I only played the Perfect Dark Hugh performance patch and Turok 3 for ~5m each on your core and the base N64 code to see the differences but no issues on my end

[zinc dew]

The prize is uhhhhh, to play N64?

[slow silo]

Glitches!

[bright lotus]

I would also like to know what's the perf on something like 480i modes in Hybrid Heaven and Castlevania Legacy of Darkness

And basically literally every game with unplayable 480i modes

[zinc dew]

I remember getting the expansion pack just for Turok 2. It looked awesome and high-res but the framerate was so bad. I wssso conflicted lol.

[night silo]

My highly (un)scientific test results so far:

Benchmarking the very beginning of banjo Tooie, right after the intro cutscene when banjo steps out of the house.

Latest official core pretty much sticks to 20fps consistently.
Latest 80mhz hangs around the mid 20s and dips back down to 20 depending on where you move
94mhz is mostly 30 with slight dips if you move in specific spots

[dim kiln]

anything running on hires on N64 should benefit greatly from the 94MHz

[night silo]

Looks like a clear winner for 94mhz at least in this specific spot of BT. Wouldn't be surprised if the rest of this game mirrors this

[zinc dew]

ohhhhhhhh

[cerulean elk]

69mhz only

But real talk what’s going on?

[night silo]

@dim kiln dropped a surprise alternate turbo core this morning, jury is out on its stability and whether it's better than the existing turbo core. I don't think I'd do a good job explaining the differences but it's interesting, Def recommend scrolling up and reading the discussion

Personally I've tested spiral mountain at the start of banjo Tooie and the SM64 splitscreen multiplayer hack with it against the old turbo core

So far I think the new 94mhz one is better by ~1-5 fps in both games in most cases

I've been trying to decide though if the old 80mhz one avoids some minor fps dips that the new 94mhz one suffers but I can't tell bc of run to run variance

Also so far I haven't hit any crashes or noticeable bugs fwiw

[cerulean elk]

Nice. Def will check it out

[night silo]

Looking forward to your findings (video coming? 👀 )

Just tried sm64 return to yoshi's island demo 2 with unlocked fps. Standing still at the spawn of bunny brushwoods, we go from ~48fps on 80mhz core to ~56 fps on the 94mhz core. That's +8 fps!

So far it seems to really help with more demanding romhacks

[cerulean elk]

Send me a list @night silo in dms so I know what to check

[slow silo]

https://tenor.com/view/pc-burned-gif-14847105

[slow silo]

How about Hybrid Heaven? I remember renting that and trying ot turn on hi res mode, it was a slideshow

Also curious if Kaze's Return to Yoshi Island hack will play nice with it

[chilly ember]

TWINE has a hi res mode

[dim kiln]

I have not tried any of those but you should get 50% boost if it fully loads the RCP

[mossy vector]

Pilotwings 64 doesn't reach the delicious 60 fps peak rush on 94MHz. It hovers around 48 fps.

[dim kiln]

I been playing that quite a bit actually and feels smoother with turbo cores for sure

[night silo]

Findings in Banjo Kazooie:

• 80mhz core smooths out the fps on the file select screen but still drops when moving from file to file. 94mhz further eliminates these drops (might not be the most important improvement lol)

• In the fall area of click clock wood, the entrance tends to run a few fps faster on 94mhz, but if you run around the flower and Gobi, the old 80mhz core runs about 5fps faster

[mossy vector]

Blast Corps moon stage is same between 80MHz and 94MHz overclock cores. 30 fps solid. I don't rotate camera on this test.

[dim kiln]

Wow I never tried that PD high performance patch before. Not only does it run like a dream but also useful FPS plot when you press left shoulder button. Thanks for hinting that!

[zinc dew]

Oh yeah I forgot about the stats it does lol

I’m glad I accidentally helped!

[night silo]

Where can I find this patch? 👀

afaik he hasn't back-ported his optimizations to the original game yet

[zinc dew]

How much you got

I think it was this lol

https://github.com/Bobbar/PDRepo_PDHP

[chilly ember]

#1096015979055697940 message

[night silo]

Thanks both of you!

[zinc dew]

I’m pretty sure inside that patch

I used that patch

@chilly ember da real
Mbp

MVP

Sorry you’re not a MacBook Pro

[slow silo]

I think he's mostly just added those optimizations to his hacks, like that Yoshi Island demo

[mossy vector]

Tried to think of another test. Start of Frigate level. 80 MHz / 94 MHz / stock 62.5 MHz

23 / 21 / 17

[jolly turret]

Does anyone know if I can set up the 8bitdo 64 controller to use the c-buttons in s-mode?

It works perfectly in d-mode, however vibration seems to work in s-mode only, in which I can not configure the c-buttons.

[mossy vector]

What firmware version is loaded into the controller?

[chilly ember]

Do you have to set it up again with s mode? I know you'd have to set the right stick in main to the c buttons to get it to work

[mossy vector]

sure, but that's step 2 after having a firmware that isn't awful. yes it feels like D and S mode are two different controller IDs.

[jolly turret]

When I try to set up the c-buttons in main while in s-mode, the buttons do not register.

[jolly turret]

I just updated the firmware and calibrated the controller last week.

[chilly ember]

You're setting them as the right stick?

Or can't get them to register at all at point?

[jolly turret]

Yes, and it worked while in d-mode, but not in s-mode for some reason. I'm using a wired connection if that makes any difference.

[chilly ember]

Hmm that's odd, I had it working with the 8bitdo kit in s mode but don't have the new controller to confirm

[mossy vector]

I think I skipped the right stick (stick 2). the controller obviously doesn't have it.

you need to be able to press multiple C buttons at the same time anyways. it's not an analog stick on N64.

[topaz otter]

that damned ram expander nearly killed my N64

got so hot in that level with the spaceship, the ones where the save points are 45 minutes apart, that it got too hot and the video started blinking

I had to put a pc fan on top of the ram

[zinc dew]

Like an official Nintendo made one?

[topaz otter]

yeah

with turok 2 it just gets too hot

it was a problem with that game when it came out

third party ram expanders would straight up catch fire

[zinc dew]

Wow holy shit

[topaz otter]

theres a cooler thing on the ram expander for the chip

and a pad

but it was never very good

when I used to make portable N64s the first thing I used to do was solder a ram expander onto the rambus pins and then put one of flat heat spreaders on it

with some arctic thermal

[languid dune]

Body Harvest should be a solid test for the new turbo core as well.

[jolly turret]

I noticed that OoT Master Quest PAL is running at an incorrect and much higher speed. Is it worth making a report on GitHub for it? After all it's a GameCube dump, but the NTSC version seems to work fine as far as I can tell.

[spare meadow]

I tested the core by playing RE2 and KI Gold, and both worked perfectly without any slowdown

[weary perch]

this also happens on a real N64, so no, no need to create an issue

not entirely sure what the point of the MQ PAL ROM is, maybe if you force NTSC it works better

i'm assuming you're talking about the vanilla core and not this new turbo core anyway.

Turbo Corn Core.

[jolly turret]

NTSC works fine, I like to play PAL games also.

Thanks for confirming.

[weary perch]

i approve, so here's how to play it. open the System menu and change PAL to NTSC, then reset the game. the audio and game speed should be fixed when forcing NTSC

make sure you reset though. just changing PAL to NTSC won't fix it alone

[jolly turret]

Thanks, I'll try it out. I don't think there's much difference between the PAL and NTSC roms anyways, but very good to know.

[outer condor]

Modern displays typically support 50Hz so using PAL roms isn't the big problem that it used to be

[viscid gate]

Thanks for this - FYI I am seeing some improvements in BK Nostalgia 64 1.1 but also some hangs compared with the standard or 80Mhz core

[amber fjord]

This is the proper “official” one https://gitlab.com/ryandwyer/perfect-dark/-/tree/mods/performance?ref_type=heads

[dry oak]

Is there a performance patch for Goldeneye? If not hopefully someone can can make one when it’s fully decompiled.

[bright lotus]

the closest thing to that is the 480i hack that uses the expansion pak and that's kind of the opposite of performance

would like to know the perf on that too in the corncore

[lament escarp]

Instead of trying to speed games up I just slow my brain down.

[worn delta]

Is Goldeneye fully decompiled yet?

[slow silo]

Pretty sure it was a while ago

Hmm, guess not

[bright lotus]

https://kholdfuzion.github.io/goldeneyestatus/

no

[dim kiln]

if you look for the patched ROM "perfect dark high performace patch" you'll find a version that has enhanced performance made to run on original hardware (based on the decomp) and not the actual decomp. it runs extremely well especially on turbo cores

[dim kiln]

ok but only in this game or do you see it elsewhere?

[amber fjord]

not yet, whats left is mostly pita stuff. where we have equivalent code, but register differences

[amber fjord]

there is one in works

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCrdrNZYWJA that rom is a preview

there is not a base game only build atm

GE has ALOT of room for improvements in base game

[amber fjord]

why would i grab some random patch instead of compiling it myself from the actual author? and i know it runs on turbo core, i did testing while ryan was making it

also ryans is actually still improved, unlike the fork and forget one

[viscid gate]

So far I’ve seen a few in this game and once in the PD performance patch (in the intro cutscene)

[dim kiln]

ok I think I now understand what you meant. This is the actual source for the performance patch. I though you just talked about the regular decomp that was the misunderstanding..

[dim kiln]

The 94MHz taxes the memory quite a bit and it is possible that due to the silicon lottery some are on the edge.
Do you have fan + heatsink on the FPGA?

[digital remnant]

Hey it’s Torin, CEO of ModRetro.

It’s about time we send out an M64 update, so let’s jump right in.

Early production is almost done. Soon we’re moving into mass production, with some of those early production units going out to reviewers to take them for a test drive.

With that in mind, we need your help:

Please take a look at the attached images of our three four colorways (we’ve officially decided to also offer red at launch!)

Now, more about M64. It contains one of the most special PCBAs in any consumer hardware that we know of. Black pre-preg and a clear soldermask with gold traces. See image below. There is a reason you never see this – it’s expensive and takes forever, but the result is truly beautiful.

M64 will boot into gameplay in 4-5 seconds and contains an ultra low latency bluetooth device which pairs with our wired/wireless ultimate trident controller, which will come shortly after M64.

M64 is full of mechanical easter eggs. A hot pink hidden latch under the cartridge flaps can optionally keep them open all the time. An easy eject mechanism allows you to eject the cartridge without pulling the console off the ground. A special light pipe will uplight the cartridge so you can see your game art in the dark.

As you have come to expect from us, we will be continually working at a rapid pace on firmware after the device ships, and will tell you what’s in the pipeline as we go.

[viscid gate]

Yes indeed - fan & heatsink. I’ll try the same game on another MiSTer and see if there’s any differences

[zinc dew]

Thank you, Torin.

[neat sierra]

A special light pipe will aerosolize the crack you packed into you m64

[viscid gate]

@dim kiln FYI tried on a couple of other units and didn’t get the same hangs (same ROM same save). One is in the misteraddons heatsink case and the other with a heatsink & fan on a bare jamma I/O board. May well be silicon lottery, as there were differences between those units with the early JT Outrun core.

[dim kiln]

@viscid gate ok good to know. I have not seen anyone else post hangs or issues yet but at least this is an alternative and can give more FPS in some games where the rendering and fillrate is bogging down the RCP.

[neat sierra]

Where was the ram from where it hanged?

[viscid gate]

It was my oldest unit - ram has always been Misterfpga.co.uk

[neat sierra]

Thought maybe it was one of those OG Ali sellers on Amazon or something

[topaz otter]

can you just unsolder the ram from one of those units and replace it

is it bga or is it just pins

[mossy vector]

The circuit board trace layout affects maximum speed.

[neat sierra]

Oh yeah the ram did get revisions, maybe it’s that old?

[dim kiln]

What speed do you get error free when testing with the memtest program?
I have 128MB stick that can run error free @146MHz

[worn delta]

Is this graphic available as a from the OSD document viewer when running Memtest? It really should be...

Not even joking, would be very helpful

[dim kiln]

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/MemTest_MiSTer

[atomic stratus]

I’ve had it in my head that it’d be cool to make help PDFs for every core that comes down through update_all. I know some already do, but it’d be nice to update them, make them look nice with some graphics, controller diagrams, etc.

[worn delta]

Go for it, would be nice to have decent, nice looking help documentation for cores that don't have it. Would be a nice addition to the project

[dim kiln]

this one could have used an on screen explanation on what is what but it works as it is as well

[worn delta]

It just takes turning that screen into a .pdf and it being added to the documents folder on the GitHub page

Then everyone will have it when they select the option from the OSD

[dim kiln]

well it has some keys too but i just pasted the most useful part

[worn delta]

Yeah, someone could do a proper version

[outer condor]

Am I right in saying the dual SDRAM module does not get tested?

[magic girder]

Not by the default memory test core, no

[hasty musk]

does anyone got a dual sd ram on mister pi and can tell me how dip switches are set? or make a photo from it

[lean spruce]

https://misterfpga.co.uk/dual-sdram-mister-fpga/

[quick light]

On a mister pi. You don’t need to move the dip switches

Leave them default

[quick light]

#1046941029296779344 message

[bright lotus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEnGWvFAibM

can MiSTer replicate this fat ass?

[unreal sundial]

just to complement what Penny said, as there are two sets of dip switches. normally you wouldn't change either of them, namely for the RAM https://mister-devel.github.io/MkDocs_MiSTer/basics/troubleshooting/?h=dip+sw#the-mister-fpgas-correct-dip-switch-configuration-on-the-de10-nano

[slow silo]

Oh yeah, it can do FAT16, FAT32, and even exFAT 😉

[dim kiln]

If you like you can pin the 94MHz core for N64.
Seems to work for pretty much everyone and can give a decent boost over the 80MHz core if the game is fillrate or texture load limited.

[upper pivot]

Would implementing GameShark codes support for Summercart just involve a modification to the loader menu?

It seems like the way GS works is hijacking a handler in the game to call the code handler that applies the codes each frame

[vapid hawk]

i think so? i guess thats how everdrive does it

[lament escarp]

That title card makes it seem like anal3d is better right now.

[blazing knot]

Well yeah we all knew that already

It has 100% accuracy with all commercial games

[lament escarp]

Commercial games are the best since they support the industry.

[blazing knot]

Nobody wants to play stinky homebrew or romhacks

[green epoch]

Did we decide that the new turbo core is ok? I thought it was less compatible

[magic girder]

stinky mentioned

[lament escarp]

You taught them.

[dim kiln]

As far as I have seen only one person had issues with it with an old Mister build while his new worked. Otherwise this version really helps on games that uses lots of fillrate/texture and give a nice extra boost. For example on the perfect dark high performance patch the FPS was 35->45->53 for the stock/80MHz/94MHz respectively. Other than that it really up to you if you want to pin it here or not.

Things are in the works for even faster versions but to early to tell if they will bare fruit

[green epoch]

perfect

[outer condor]

Yeah Perfect Dark looks approaching 60 by my eye for sure

[broken creek]

That is exciting and I was already excited. 😊

[slow silo]

Will this replace the current 80hz core from the other cores menu?

[mossy vector]

No, why the leading question?

[slow silo]

leading question?

[mossy vector]

Do you want it to replace the core in the other menu?

[slow silo]

If it's better then I don't see why not

[zinc dew]

It’s not part of the official MiSTer distribution so it’s up to you if you want to replace it

[hushed nova]

they're just asking if the db that downloads them is going to use this one instead

[zinc dew]

Ohhh

[mossy vector]

My experience is that it's slightly less fast for most games.

And special cases like PD are the exception. I wish it was a clear winner. I'm not seeing it, but the opposite.

[slow silo]

So baically just another alt core option on top of the 80mhz one for now?

[mossy vector]

Yes. It'd also be nice to find those few units that in cannot handle 120 MHz but can handle 94MHz. But nobody's come forward with one

[magic girder]

76MHz core when?

[dim kiln]

yeah it a bit of mixed bag GE is faster on 80MHz and PD is faster in 94MHz
not sure the exact ratio but it seem that also Turok are getting better FSP especiallt in highres

in PD you get the full 50% boost actually

[slow silo]

At this rate the other folder is going to need an N64 subfolder

N64_80, N64_76, N64_90, N64_120

[dim kiln]

the issue is that some games seems to really like extra CPU and some really want more RCP...
The 80 core boost all part while 94 only boost RCP and memory which is why it is a bit of a mixed bag

[green epoch]

is there something the old turbo core does better? (forgive me, I have only partially been paying attention)

[dim kiln]

GE seems to do better on the old while PD does better on the new one

[magic girder]

Now we just need turbo mgls to pick the fastest core for each game

@zinc dew your time to shine

[zinc dew]

lol oh moooooo

Nooooo

[magic girder]

Guess it just depends where the bottleneck was on any given game/scene

[dim kiln]

here one example I wrote earlier for PD
For example on the perfect dark high performance patch the FPS was 35->45->53 for the stock/80MHz/94MHz respectively

looking in the zero G hangar

[cerulean elk]

N64_99.69 wen?

[zinc dew]

Man, people just gotta buy the Xbox version of perfecto darko

[hushed nova]

why should I pay for something

[magic girder]

Xbox

[slow silo]

That's more like Imperfect Dark

[mossy vector]

The timing ratio between the CPU and RCP is maintained on 80MHz. This avoids introducing subtle synchronization and program sequence issues.

[slow silo]

I tried using my own romdump of OOT for a recent romhack... but it would not work because my version of the game was the wrong one >.<

I tried ¯_(ツ)_/¯

At least my dump of Banjo worked in the recent recomp

[zinc dew]

There’s that perfect dark recomo that’s forestry great

Pretty great

[green epoch]

Is there a way to build this turbo into the existing turbo core as like a menu option? Like you can toggle between each mode?

[dim kiln]

no

[cerulean elk]

Id guess not since its a whole diff "core" so it would need a reboot minimum to write to the FPGA

[green epoch]

well I'm out of ideas

[slow silo]

https://tenor.com/view/tried-nothing-flanders-out-of-gif-9662944

[dim kiln]

is it possible to just have it pinned here and then we let the dust settle bit?

[zinc dew]

Oh yeah I’m sorry I forgot LOL

[dim kiln]

I am looking into a few options to boost things further

but it will take time and might not work

either way I think we are reaching the end of the line 😛

once that is clear we will see how things look like and Robert can have his say too

[slow silo]

N64 in and of itself was already crossing the line anyway

[vapid moat]

Need to test Turok 2...

[zinc dew]

Ok added

[slow silo]

Now we're just holding the line, even if interrupts aren't always on time

[dim kiln]

I tried turok3 and it get the full benefit from the 94 core

[magic girder]

Any stock N64 core fans here?

[unreal sundial]

I tried that PD recomp, the only thing that makes me prefer the mister is how it upscales to a large screen. It's missing a crt filter, scanlines, those textures look so sharp and out of place

[slow silo]

Ilike to usethe oc core for romhacks and homebrew, otherwise stock

[unreal sundial]

if they use a framework for recomps and added this, would be a gamechanger

[slow silo]

No hd texture packs for the recomp?

[magic girder]

Suggestion: we should rename the turbo cores to “unleashed”

[slow silo]

There is one for the banjo one

[unreal sundial]

this exists? ahh need to dig deeper then, ty!

[slow silo]

No idea, I was asking

[dim kiln]

how about "unreleased"

[magic girder]

||I used the term analogue used on the 3D||

[vapid moat]

Dreaming of a day someone sits down and makes a fork of this core to help get Pokemon Stadium 2's transfer pak stuff fully working

[slow silo]

.... again _Other\N64\

At this rate the 64 will stand for how many alternate versions of the core there are

[broken creek]

I wouldn’t depreciate Robert’s official 80mhz turbo core for the 94mhz core. It should just be another option. 🎤

[zinc dew]

yah, its all valid imo

[magic girder]

80MHz is also well tested by now

[mossy vector]

Battlezone 64 still sounds scuffed like IBM mWave no matter how many MHz I throw at it. Truly remarkable achievement.

Clearly needs more than 94, how high must it go to be appeased?

[magic girder]

It must be tuned for a very specific number of MHz

Try 69

[zinc dew]

Oh yeah? I own that game, I can try to compare.

[dim kiln]

Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage is not one of my favs but it did not boot for me even on stock core is it supposed to work or am I missing something?

[mint shadow]

boots just fine for me, no issues

[dim kiln]

ok good to know... probably a bad dump then

[mossy vector]

It lets the audio buffer starve hundreds of times a second. Happens on real console hardware too. It was when robert discovered the hardware has a decay to 0 filter when starved.

[bitter fjord]

Afaik Perfect Dark is CPU bound, so it'd probably run better on the 80Mhz core

[weak hill]

i was going to do a question regarding analogue3d and mister. in the game mario kart 64, i was using a widescreen hack, and it does a sound glitchy consistenly in the menu, i thought it was the A3D, but then i loaded the normal game withouth the hack and it didnt do the soung glitch. its weird though, i never thought a widescreen hack would introduce soung gliteches in the game

[modern leaf]

The n64 has never been more fun to play now, maybe I'll actually finish some of these games that runs like ass.

[rare relic]

with corns turbo core, does the autopatcher apply? eg for mario kart 64 multiplayer

[cerulean elk]

People love you @dim kiln

[zinc dew]

A lot of hacks were and still are made for emulators which aren’t fully accurate to original hardware.

The only way to be sure is to play it on original hardware, otherwise the MiSTer or Analogue 3D or your next best bet.

[weak hill]

got it, thanks. First time playing widescreen hacks, and i notice the sound glitch immediately. Ill try it on original harware just fo couriosity.

[cinder pagoda]

I have black screens on all tested games. Stock and 80 are fine.

DE-10 Nano (OG)
Retrocastle IO board and Case
256 Taki Ram

[dim kiln]

Seems that on rare occasions some Mister hardware fail. It possible the RAM module is not quite up to speed.
What results do you get in the utility/Memtest?

[cinder pagoda]

Testing now.. letting it run for 10 mins

[zinc dew]

What batch is your taki ram and do you have other types of ram to test?

[green epoch]

whats the most taxing thing I can test on this core?

the 94mhz core I mean

I'm just looking to test for hangs

[dim kiln]

I get 146 MHz (you have 142MHz). I grabbed my module from Amazon

[green epoch]

If someone can tell me a game to just let run, I can test it on a bunch of misters to see if there is trouble. Right now I have conker's file select screen sitting idle on 5 misters with no crash

[quick light]

The only other game that I remember testing with the old turbo core was the Majoras Mask intro. Just letting it play. If the timings were off with the core, you would easily see graphical issues

[green epoch]

ok

[quick light]

But apart from that I don’t know

I did test the core for a bit and it seemed good

[blissful plaza]

I tried some gameplay on the two Ganbare Goemon games, a full run on Extreme G, a full run on Acade Mode on KI Gold and some stars on Mario 64.
Like, 2 days ago with the SS1 and a MiSTer Pi.

[green epoch]

i'm just trying to recreate Maven's situation. See if it's a silicon lottery thing

[quick light]

I think someone mentioned that they had less fps compared to the normal turbo core

But I guess it’s probably game dependent

[dim kiln]

yes it really depend on what game you run

basically if its CPU bound or rendering/RCP bound. which then favor one of the core for that particular game

as I wrote earlier 80 core favors GE while 94 favors PD, so a mixed bag

Body harvest and turok games seems to favor 94 quite a bit

[static tinsel]

Perhaps ignorant, but would it be possible to build a core that allow each to be overclocked separately/independently (or together), and turned on or off in the core menu? I know the ao486 core has the ability to change the CPU clock on the fly.

[green epoch]

Ok, so I take that back. I went and checked on the de10 across the room and it had crashed in the conker file select screen. DE10, misteraddons ram, standard stack

[dim kiln]

CBFD has no issues when I run it but then again all cores including the stock one is actually out of spec according to the tool

[green epoch]

yeah, feels silicon lottery-y

[dim kiln]

I think 94 works for many and some has issues with it and then fall back on the 80 (which is also out of spec)

[green epoch]

yeah, I don't think there is anything to do - it's an optional core and it works fine for most people. I will do some more testing

[dim kiln]

I'll se if I can find a more balanced combo but it will take while

It would be interesting if someone with a Mister that has issues with the 94core could swap memory sticks with someone to see if the problem moves between the mister units and prove that its the memory but in any case it probably close also on the FPGA timings

[green epoch]

Right, this is probably a timing issue. I have a board with soldered on ram chips that is failing like Maven's (no game load)

Have you tried compiling it in a more recent version of Quartus? Sometimes it can find timing closures where 17 cannot

[quick light]

I wonder how the Superstation would handle it? I’m guessing it would handle it similar to the mister pi with soldered ram

[blissful plaza]

I tested the core for around 4H with the SuperStation, like 2 days ago.

No crash found so far, I could test more but not before middle of next week.

[dim kiln]

I use the version bobby (i think it was) has pinned so yeah its 17.
I compiled ~10 seeds and took the best but you will never get closure on N64 core (as far as I know) even the stock one fails with 1-2nS

[green epoch]

it can be funny with timing because a core is only guaranteed to work identically across de10's when it meets timing. after that, it's silicon lottery

[green epoch]

yeah, I think you're right. I don't think n64 hits timing anymore

[wanton sun]

It's unlikely that the turbo core has issues because of RAM, as the ram only works with the RCP speed(62.5 - 93.75MHz) and is mostly used for Cart, not RDRAM.

[green epoch]

I would bet it's just a timing + silicon lottery thing.

[dim kiln]

Thing is that I only had 10 compiles for the 94 core so in any case I should run more of them to see if it improves but It was mostly a proof of concept to get an idea about how well it scales with FPS which is now more clear. I think things will improve but it cant happen all at once 😄

[green epoch]

Oh Corn, please don't take this as an indictment against the core - totally not what I'm saying. You're doing great work. I'm just trying to normalize the idea that we are probably going to see varying degrees of compatibility due to the fact that you are pushing things to the edge.

[dim kiln]

No worries mate :D, and yes what you write is exactly right

[slow silo]

Considering it's competing with the CPU for RAM access, can't installed scripts that are running also effect it?

[green epoch]

totally possible

happens with DOA on the saturn, could happen here too

[outer condor]

My RAM tests at 160MHz and seems stable so far, I’m not sure how fast most people’s RAM runs

[dim kiln]

Well all memory access goes through the RCP even for the CPU. Robert did some seriously clever maneuvering there to make it work (well the whole core is master piece) but it should pretty much behave like it is supposed to but needless to say the altering ratios on the clocks is always iffy 🙂

[dim kiln]

Mine do 146 so you should be good on that front. The jury is still out on the FPGA itself but all turbo cores and such should probably be viewed as a bonus not a guarantee.

[outer condor]

My smelly HamGeek that everyone assumes to be rubbish actually having decent RAM is certainly unexpected

[dim kiln]

No I don't think so, its really the logic and timing in the core that matters in the end

[magic girder]

Stinky HamGeek, stinky

[twin sail]

Just tried the SM64 Return to Yoshi's island demo from Kazu. Even just the initial starting point without moving shows a pretty huge jump in FPS between cores:

Normal: 36-38fps
80MHz: 47-49fps
94MHz: 55-57fps

This is with AA and dedither disabled and no widescreen

[zinc dew]

Thanks for chiming in with your findings!

[cinder pagoda]

Thank you for the efforts and contributions to the community. ✌️

[cinder pagoda]

The only rom I have been able to get any sort of response from is SF Rush. It loads the Midway screen and gives a quick blip of sound. Everything else has been black screen after loading. Still going through the rest of the set to see if any others give life. 👍

The same thing happened when the Jag core was making significant progress. It was hit and miss for multiple users until it got ironed out. However, I don't know what was ultimately needed to get it loading across all stacks. Something about the build process. Maybe GreyRogue could offer some insight.

[cinder pagoda]

Well.. Retrocastle wants $100 per stick now. LOL... No thanks! Porkchop (MA) is OOS... Not sure if I want to chance another set from Taki.

[tepid shuttle]

i bought my SDRAM from legacypixels (poobah on discord). good price, no issues and super high-quality

[cinder pagoda]

Thanks for the Tip! Always nice to have another trusted seller outlet ✌️

[quick light]

I got my extra ram module from Taki. No issues on my end with it

Ran the memtest for the second slot, can’t recall any issues

[dim kiln]

Before jumping on buying a new stick could you swap yours with some friend to test it first?
It is fully possible that it could be the FPGA too and I would hate to have you buy a new stick and then it turns out its actually the FPGA. In any case you should probably hold your horses all the dust have not yet settled and these are really experimental builds and should be seen as such.

[cinder pagoda]

I was buying them to help 😇 This is my hobby and friends of my age are all golfing 😂

[dim kiln]

I got my 128MB from Amazon for $50 but had to wait 2 weeks for it to arrive

[polar raft]

Robert was just saying it's unlikely to be the RAM in this case

[cinder pagoda]

I will hold off on buying them then..

Just trying to do my part ✌️

[dim kiln]

Yes I almost missed that comment before, but yes its tricky since lots of stuff gets boosted so its not clear cut as he put it

[cinder pagoda]

Although.. Who knows... maybe they will figure out how to use these Ram sticks in data center as well and we will all be rich 😎

[zealous knot]

Thanks for the hard work, just skimming through the thread because I love turbo cores.
With this in mind is there a way in the future to have 1 'turbo core' and the community compile a list of of the games work best on 80 or 94 and we get it to automatically switch between them?

[vapid hawk]

mgls would be the way to do it

oh here's the foremost expert

[zinc dew]

Bikmi in jnnknfrgvgup

I WAS TYPING UP AN EXPLANATION AND YOU BEAT ME TO IT

[vapid hawk]

lol sorry

go ahead you know the details

i'm too lazy to use mgls for anything

[zinc dew]

No don’t apologize, you won!

I use MGLs because I am stubborn lol

[wanton sun]

Plenty of cores run the same SDRAM controller way above 94 MHz. It's not even out of spec like the rest of the design is at 50% overclock.
That's why i think this is not the source of issues.

I rather think it's the general "overclocking". The normal core runs out of spec already.
This is like taking your 3 GHz CPU that your mainboard already pushes to 4 GHz and everyone wants 6 GHz, because why not?
But just because it works for some or most, doesn't mean it does for everyone.

[green epoch]

Corn, is the code on your GitHub? I might try running off a few seeds

[dim kiln]

I wish it was possible but since we are stretching the logic beyond spec even adding such a switch would bring the speed right down to almost default core speeds and make no sense anymore to be able to switch between them. So the default way to approach this is run the default core and if you are feeling adventurous grab one of the turbo cores and enjoy the ride 😄

[dim kiln]

No I have not forked Roberts core just cloned it but I could if you insists. The thing is that I am not done yet so I wasn't in to much hurry

[green epoch]

Oh, let’s wait until you’re done. I just don’t want folks making purchasing decisions because it could be that another seed works fine for them

[dim kiln]

I think a good thing to test is the memory test in the utility folder. If that one runs at 140+ then it as Robert say more likely a FPGA issue which might be possible to mitigate

[slow silo]

Did you finish it? I had a single crash when I was trying it on the stock core, but other than that I was able to 100% it just fine.

Also makes me wonder if that Mario in the Multiverse game can run on the 94mhz core. It actually can't run on real hardware because it's too slow

[plush summit]

Portal 64 works on the core

Its better damn impressive

I know it works on the regular Turbo, never tried the Cream Corn

[slow silo]

I thought that was just for running the Waluigi's Taco Stand romhack?

[magic girder]

Sweet Corn

[dim kiln]

lol

[lament escarp]

Is this a sweet coz reference?

[magic girder]

Nope

[lament escarp]

Everything should be.

[magic girder]

U shud b

[zealous knot]

I vote for this name!

[topaz otter]

Korn

[weak hill]

afaik n64 core has progressive option like the newes analogue 3d, right?

resident evil 2 has problems on analogue, i remember it was implemented in the core, or am i wrong?

[cunning mantle]

You probably mean "Clean HDMI" for Video Out.

But it doesn't work with direct video. You have to disable it.

[weak hill]

i meant that switching resolution in resident evil 2, i think i read here that it didnt flicker when it changes the resolution in the game. With the new added optin, on the A3D it flickers.

[cunning mantle]

Well, forced progressive out is the "Clean HDMI" option in the N64 core. It also disables all internal VI filters from the orignal hardware.

[cunning mantle]

Just checked some of them. They have similar issues.

[wanton sun]

There are mostly issues from the scaler when resolution changes. Shadowman seems fine in clean HDMI

[teal citrus]

https://youtu.be/Br-AIQsoOB0

[upper pivot]

He did have “force original hardware” off

[wanton sun]

it seems grayed out and not available? what?

[upper pivot]

I was originally confused by that too. It must be selected before launching the game.

Cannot be modified mid-game

[dim kiln]

How well does the mario mod FPS match on the stock Mister N64 core?

[quick light]

If I run clean hdmi. I get internal resolution switches on Resident Evil 2 (without expansion pack enabled)

If I don’t use clean hdmi, but enable one of the fixed blank mode things aswell as tweak video settings to try and match clean hdmi. I get no internal resolution switches on RE2 (without expansion pack)

(I also use integer scaling mode in mister ini)

[dim kiln]

Updated the 94MHz (RCP boost) that should bring a bit more stability to the table. As with previous version this mostly help with fillrate starved polygon rich games. As an example GE is not helped much while PD/Body harvest/Turok could see a nice boost. As usual with these turbo cores, they should be seen as bonus or complement and not replacement of the stock core.
Have fun!

[zinc dew]

peeeeeens

[neat sierra]

Robby’s always focused on the peen

[fair stump]

Coming back to use my saffun after a million years and thank you for these. What was the button combo you use to turn it on? I've completely forgotten

Went through the whole reconnect and mapping so I'm good

[zinc dew]

Push and hold start

[fair stump]

Thanks, I couldn't remember if it was a macro like with 8bitdo controllers

[viscid gate]

Been playing Nostalgia 64 1.1 without any issues for about an hour, on the unit that had issues before, so certainly improved for me. Thanks!

[fallen sparrow]

I'm not here talking as much as I used to, but I just wanted to say thanks for updating the turbo core. It's nice seeing MiSTer being pushed even further.

[slow silo]

So we have a 80mhz and 94mhz core, I forgot, was there one other overclocked n64 core?

[dim kiln]

not yet 😄

these two favors different games but we will see what the future brings

[zinc dew]

Heads up it’s a different turbo core

[fallen sparrow]

This one right?
#1096015979055697940 message

Robert did 80, corn did 94

Robby to do three fiddy

[zinc dew]

Yessir! What I mean is that it’s not currently intended to replace the 80Mhz turbo core. It just handles it a bit differently which benefits some games while the 80Mhz benefits others.

[fallen sparrow]

Gotcha

I still have both.

[zinc dew]

I am lazy and replaced the 80Mhz one lol

[static echo]

not sure if anyone said anything on this yet, but on the previous Corn Core I had an issue with the dk64 intro black screen when k.rool's "ship" got on screen.
I can test the new version later today to see if it's still an issue, just wanted to say it if no one had said anything.

[unreal sundial]

thanks for this! Someone was saying we need patches in the roms to get a better performance, still the case? A few of us about to play Perfect Dark as game of the month, looking for the best way 🙂

-> #game-of-the-month

[dim kiln]

seems that some builds have less margins. This release is supposed to fix that so yes please test and let us know

well @Robby hinted that there is a PD high performance patch for the original hardware and this does indeed fly especially with 94MHz core

unfortunately it is not easy to patch as running a .bsp but if you google you'll br surised on what you can find

[unreal sundial]

ah but you expect a benefit from this variant as opposed to 80Mhz on that rom unchanged anyway, just even better patched? cool

thanks so much, will look for it

[dim kiln]

well the 94 core will hang between 40 and 60 fps with that PD recomp

I assume that if a similar care is done on GE it would probably also fly

but if you look hard enough you'll can find the finished product

hang on that was the wrong one after all

why is this so hard to find

[amber fjord]

thats the "official" mirror

its on gitlab, not github

https://gitlab.com/ryandwyer/perfect-dark/-/tree/mods/performance?ref_type=heads

[topaz otter]

these recomps are my jam

playing the banjo one and getting jiggy with it

[static echo]

yep. same issue still.
it fades to black right when the birds fly to the screen (right before the k.rool ship shows), and never goes back.
the music continues on the background though.
waiting to see if it finishes (buttons don't do anything)

[slow silo]

Woah, was testing out some romhacks