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I hope this eventually also works for Linux so that N64 games can be reliably played on very low end portable handhelds. N64 is notoriously tricky to emulate, b

I hope this eventually also works for Linux so that N64 games can be reliably played on very low end portable handhelds. N64 is notoriously tricky to emulate, but building them for the platform natively removes all performance problems.

vaughnegut 2y ago
I watched the youtube video this article links to the other day and it mentioned that it supports Linux, specifically mentioning that it should be usable on Steam Deck.
- izzydata 2y ago
  The steam deck has way more than enough resources to power through any and all N64 emulation so that wouldn't change much there. I'm specifically talking about something $50 retro handhelds and the like. For example Mario64 and Ocarina of Time are completely reverse engineered and have native support for Windows and Linux and they run perfectly on those systems as where they really struggle when trying to emulate.
  - vundercind 2y ago
    I still get audio pops and glitches with whatever the default n64 emulator EmuDeck installs is, on many games. Be nice to eliminate that.
andrewclunn 2y ago
That will likely require full decompilation. This is akin to wrapping the emulator up with the rom, with a few common functions (found via decompilation) being updated to support more modern rendering approaches. This isn't so much "native" as it is a patched container in an executable form. EDIT - But hey, you can always just add another layer of emulation via Proton to run it in Linux.
- GaggiX 2y ago
  I don't think that's true, it really does recompile the N64 games into native executables, you can compile them using any C compiler like msvc, gcc and clang.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- helpfulContrib 2y ago
  [dead]
jjice 2y ago
> N64 is notoriously tricky to emulate Huh, I wouldn't have expected that. I don't know much about the specifics of N64 emulation, but I've had N64 emulators running perfectly since the early 2010s. I played mostly the big classics, so I'm unfamiliar with more niche title performance.
- LetsGetTechnicl 2y ago
  You'd be surprised, even Nintendo doesn't get it perfect themselves. When N64 games were first made available on the Nintendo Switch Online platform, there were several problems with graphical effects and input lag. Here's an MVG video from the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSyBMSOfPxg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSyBMSOfPxg
  - jjice 2y ago
    Haha I remember this launch and how awful it was an thinking about how a bunch of fans have done such a better job. Hell, even Nintendo did a better job for the Wii's Virtual Console.
    - LetsGetTechnicl 2y ago
      Yeah it's an interesting pattern. Even the GameCube had decent N64 emulation early in its lifecycle. But the Wii U Virtual Console also had issues with N64 emulation. Specifically it added a dark filter for no reason, which could be removed with homebrew thankfully. You'd think Nintendo would have the best emulation of their own systems on their systems, considering how long people stick around you probably have people who developed for the N64 still there
      - jimbobthrowawy 2y ago
        Homebrew emulators will almost always work better than first-party ones which need to avoid copyleft code, and can be content with a small subset of games being "playable", or "good enough". Console makers will often hire lead developers of open source emulators to sew something up for them, like what was used for the mario 35 collection (part of galaxy was recompiled too) or the "ps2 classics" software emulator for the ps3.
cpressland 2y ago
I’m pretty sure Linux is natively supported via N64Recomp: https://github.com/Mr-Wiseguy/N64Recomp https://github.com/Mr-Wiseguy/N64Recomp An example of this can be found here: https://github.com/Mr-Wiseguy/Zelda64Recomp?tab=readme-ov-file#linux-and-steam-deck-support https://github.com/Mr-Wiseguy/Zelda64Recomp?tab=readme-ov-fi...
Fartmancer 2y ago
I tried this out on my Ubuntu PC and it works great. Played it for around an hour without any issues.
privacyking 2y ago
It already works on linux. I've tested it.

vaughnegut 2y ago

I watched the youtube video this article links to the other day and it mentioned that it supports Linux, specifically mentioning that it should be usable on Steam Deck.

izzydata 2y ago
The steam deck has way more than enough resources to power through any and all N64 emulation so that wouldn't change much there. I'm specifically talking about something $50 retro handhelds and the like. For example Mario64 and Ocarina of Time are completely reverse engineered and have native support for Windows and Linux and they run perfectly on those systems as where they really struggle when trying to emulate.
- vundercind 2y ago
  I still get audio pops and glitches with whatever the default n64 emulator EmuDeck installs is, on many games. Be nice to eliminate that.

andrewclunn 2y ago

That will likely require full decompilation. This is akin to wrapping the emulator up with the rom, with a few common functions (found via decompilation) being updated to support more modern rendering approaches. This isn't so much "native" as it is a patched container in an executable form. EDIT - But hey, you can always just add another layer of emulation via Proton to run it in Linux.

GaggiX 2y ago
I don't think that's true, it really does recompile the N64 games into native executables, you can compile them using any C compiler like msvc, gcc and clang.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
helpfulContrib 2y ago
[dead]

jjice 2y ago

> N64 is notoriously tricky to emulate Huh, I wouldn't have expected that. I don't know much about the specifics of N64 emulation, but I've had N64 emulators running perfectly since the early 2010s. I played mostly the big classics, so I'm unfamiliar with more niche title performance.

LetsGetTechnicl 2y ago
You'd be surprised, even Nintendo doesn't get it perfect themselves. When N64 games were first made available on the Nintendo Switch Online platform, there were several problems with graphical effects and input lag. Here's an MVG video from the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSyBMSOfPxg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSyBMSOfPxg
- jjice 2y ago
  Haha I remember this launch and how awful it was an thinking about how a bunch of fans have done such a better job. Hell, even Nintendo did a better job for the Wii's Virtual Console.
  - LetsGetTechnicl 2y ago
    Yeah it's an interesting pattern. Even the GameCube had decent N64 emulation early in its lifecycle. But the Wii U Virtual Console also had issues with N64 emulation. Specifically it added a dark filter for no reason, which could be removed with homebrew thankfully. You'd think Nintendo would have the best emulation of their own systems on their systems, considering how long people stick around you probably have people who developed for the N64 still there
    - jimbobthrowawy 2y ago
      Homebrew emulators will almost always work better than first-party ones which need to avoid copyleft code, and can be content with a small subset of games being "playable", or "good enough". Console makers will often hire lead developers of open source emulators to sew something up for them, like what was used for the mario 35 collection (part of galaxy was recompiled too) or the "ps2 classics" software emulator for the ps3.

cpressland 2y ago

I’m pretty sure Linux is natively supported via N64Recomp: https://github.com/Mr-Wiseguy/N64Recomp https://github.com/Mr-Wiseguy/N64Recomp An example of this can be found here: https://github.com/Mr-Wiseguy/Zelda64Recomp?tab=readme-ov-file#linux-and-steam-deck-support https://github.com/Mr-Wiseguy/Zelda64Recomp?tab=readme-ov-fi...

Fartmancer 2y ago

I tried this out on my Ubuntu PC and it works great. Played it for around an hour without any issues.

privacyking 2y ago

It already works on linux. I've tested it.