Recommended N64 Setups

Project64 and Others

  • Commonly Used
    • Glide64 2.0.0.1
    • Shunyuan’s HLE Audio (set to LLE)
    • BatCat’s MLE RSP or Zilmar’s RSP
    • Either of the RSP plugin should be fine for most games. Keep both of them around just in case. Although, BatCat’s RSP plugin is more compatible, but Zilmar’s tends to be faster. Keep in mind that Glide64 2.0.0.1 is the same as Glide64 Final. Glide64 2.0.0.1 is just a merge of Glide64, GlideHQ, and Glitch64 (which of course the final version has) to be one file, but limits you to certain settings that cannot be changed with the emulator.
  • Best Performance
    • Glide64 Final
    • Azimer’s HLE Audio
    • Zilmar’s RSP
    • Make sure you configure the graphics plugin to show texture enhancement options. Then you’ll have an extra tab to change more options. Goto the texture enhancement tab and click on the button that gives best performance and it should improve framerate once you saved the settings. There’s also another button for best texture quality. There’s no need to touch the other plugins. Recommended for most emulators.
  • Best Texture Quality
    • Shunyuan’s SoftGraphic
    • Shunyuan’s HLE Audio
    • BatCat’s MLE RSP
    • Do not expect to run the emulator with these plugins without a powerful PC. Audio can mislead easily if it’s not in sync with the graphics when using without a powerful PC. Gives best and most accurate appearance, but will give up a big amount of framerates just to run it.

Mupen64Plus

Mupen64Plus has its own set of plugins which are incompatible with plugins used in other emulators. Here is an overview of recommended setups.

  • Commonly Used
    • Video: Glide64mk2
    • RSP: cxd4-hlevideo
    • Glide64mk2 is just Glide64 with additional tweaks and enhancements for use with Mupen64Plus. The hlevideo variant of the cxd4 RSP is basically a port of BatCat’s MLE RSP plugin for Project64. This appears to be the best combination for use with most games, though toasters may have performance issues.
  • Best Performance
    • Video: Rice
    • RSP: rsp-hle
    • These are Mupen64Plus’s default plugins. Rice’s Video is a plugin used on other N64 emulators, most known for its support for hi-res texture packs, now enhanced for Mupen64plus. It is not quite up to Glide64’s level, but it does well enough for many games and is quite fast. The default RSP plugin appears to be just a port of vanilla Mupen64’s RSP. Use this combination if you have a lower end PC and can’t handle the General Use setup.
  • Accuracy/Rogue Squadron
    • Video: z64
    • RSP: cxd4
    • z64 is a port of z64gl, a low-level emulation video plugin for N64 emulators. It comes with its own accompanying z64 RSP, but cxd4 (a port of BatCat’s RSP Interpreter plugin) appears to be more accurate and very well optimized. This setup is capable of playing difficult games like Rogue Squadron with very few graphical glitches, and faster than on Project64 to boot.

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