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GLideN64 Public Release v4.0 released!

spotanjo3

Moderator
Moderator
GLideN64 is a new generation, open-source graphics plugin for N64 emulators

GLideN64 Public Release v4.0 Changelog:

Today is time to set new Release tag to master branch.
Previous Release 3.0 was a revolutionary one because of massive changes in plugin's architecture and new possibilities opened by these changes. This release is rather evolutionary. It continues tendencies started in the previous version. Of course, new features had been developed too. Lets see:

Solution for HLE problems

The main theme of the new release is solution of HLE-related problems. It started with long long awaited HLE implementation of BOSS ZSort microcode made by Gilles Siberlin.

Then olivieryuyu and me completed our "Mission Impossible 2" : HLE implementation of microcodes for "Indiana Jones" and "Battle for Naboo".That was a huge and incredibly hard work. Successful completion of that task ultimately closed "HLE not supported" issue. All N64 games now can be run in HLE mode. olivieryuyu wrote an article about this microcode: "The masterpiece graphic microcode behind the Nintendo 64 version of Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine and Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo". I highly recommend to read it.

Next step was to fix issues caused by incomplete or incorrect implementation of some HLE commands, which caused HLE-only glitches. We started with re-implementation of S2DEX microcode, which is designed to draw such 2D objects as sprites and backgrounds. olivieryuyu decoded that huge and tangled microcode and we made new HLE implementation of it, trying to reproduce original algorithms as close as possible. That work took us circa six month.

We also fixed several small HLE issues, where glitch was caused by an issue in some command. Such fixes also required microcode analysis. Thanks to olivieryuyu's efforts we fixed:
missing transition effect in Dark Rift menu
Coin Block Blitz mini game in Mario Party
Conker's Bad Fur Day lighting fix
Missing graphics in Sim City 64

Regressions fixes.

The second big topic of this new release is fixing of regressions.

Unfortunately, each big release is brings not only new features and fixes, but also new bugs. Complete testing is very hard and tedious process. Fortunately, users are founding and reporting us about issues. One of my goals for this release was to fix all known regressions. I combed project's bug tracker for such bugs. To my surprise, many reported issues were actually old and very old regressions. I even found regressions, which were made before the very first public release. I fixed all these issues and I hope that this release will not bring many new ones.

New features.

1. As you know, GLideN64 has special mode for precise emulation of N64 depth compare. This mode helps to fix many minor and some major issues with depth compare, but it has some limitations:
serious performance drop in some games
incompatibility with Multi-Sample Anti Aliasing (MSAA)
Logan McNaughton aka loganmc10 found OpenGL extensions, which helped us to weaken the performance issue greatly. Now you can use N64 depth compare freely if your hardware supports required extensions. This mode is still incompatible with MSAA, but now we have a solution. I implemented Fast Approximate Anti Aliasing (FXAA) , which you can enable along with N64 depth compare.

2. Ultimate solution for "remove these darn annoying black boarders" issue: Overscan feature. Now you may crop output image as much as you want.

3. User profiles. You may create profiles with different settings and switch between them. For example, you may create a profile with 2D fixes enabled to play 2D games, or create a profile with N64 depth compare + FXAA enabled.

New supported games

I already mentioned implementation of new microcodes, which finally made it possible to run any game with HLE. However, there are still games, which can't run properly because they do something weird what GLideN64 does not expect and can't emulate yet. Example of such game is Super Bowling 64. The way that game programmed makes it hard to emulate on PC hardware. Finally I found a way how it can be done. That fix then helped me to solve split screen issue in NASCAR 2000. Another example of hard to emulate issue is multiplayer mode in GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark with 3 or 4 players. It was fixed too.

Other

It is impossible to list all solved issues. We closed more than 175 issues during this release cycle .
You may read my change-logs on Patreon for details.

Acknowledgements:
Thanks to all backers of "Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine" crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. We hardly would take that task without your support.
Thanks to all my patrons on www.patreon.com/Gliden64 I very appreciate your support.
Thanks to all users of https://github.com/gonetz/GLideN64. Your bug reports and feedback greatly help us to improve quality of the program.
Very special thanks to olivieryuyu, the author of incredible microcode decoding
works.

https://github.com/gonetz/GLideN64/releases
 

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Newtonian

New member
This is making want to play the Battle for Naboo again. The last time I played on real hardware with the ram upgrade. I'd be curious to try it with HLE to see what it looks like with higher resolutions than the native hardware.
 

EmuNoviceUser

Just Having Fun
I am actually STILL using v1.x

It sounds rediculous having played for so long, but I have actually forgotten what to do. :unsure: Just place it into a specific folder of Project64?
 

EmuNoviceUser

Just Having Fun
What :blink:
Exactly. :unsure:


I cannot remember where to move the files in order to take advantage of newer GLideN64 versions. I think that I tried in the past moving them to a new location and it never updated as if it was retaining the old version in memory.

After getting away from the emulation scene for a while, I became a buffoon and never recovered.
 

NES_player4LIFE

Texture Pack Invader
Moderator
What files? .dll goes to plugin/graphics. You could reinstall the emulator of make a second emulator for testing.
Be sure to update the .ini if you are pasteing new files on old.
 
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EmuNoviceUser

Just Having Fun
Wow... long time to reply. Sorry about that:

What files? .dll goes to plugin/graphics. You could reinstall the emulator of make a second emulator for testing.
Be sure to update the .ini if you are pasteing new files on old.
No matter what steps I take, Project64 Settings either show that Glide64 release 1 is still installed or nothing is installed at all. Settings never indicate that v4.0 is installed.


When I originally downloaded v1.x, there were only a few files to choose from and an instruction text file or the topic post told exactly what to do. When I download v4.0, there are folders in folders in folders. I have tried moving whole folders (not understanding if I need to use files from all three folders inside of /bin or only one of the folders.) I have also tried moving individual .DLL and .INI files into the same location as are the v1.x files, and no matter what I try, nothing seems to work out.

So, I am obviously either not moving the correct files to the right location, or something else is going on and I have no way of knowing what it is.
 
Is there a particular reason to use gliden64? I have been using the standard plugins for years, without any problems.
 
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NES_player4LIFE

Texture Pack Invader
Moderator
Cleaner display, frame buffing, per game ini, and tons of tweaks.

Put it simply GLideN64 is the new standard for HLE video.
 
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EmuNoviceUser

Just Having Fun
delete the glidenN64 and replace with the new files plugins/

what pj64 version are you using 1.6 or 2.x?
v1.6

To be completely honest, I thought 1.6 was the last official release and when I first saw 2.x on a completely different site ages ago, I was not sure if I could/should trust it as either an update or worthy port.
 

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