Graphics and Text - Project64 V 1.6

[Zordon]

I recently downloaded project64 ver 1.6 and it’s a really good emulator. I got a couple of roms and they work and it’s all good. But I have a few questions about graphics.

Firstly, on the graphics options unchecking the “hide advanced settings” doesn’t seem to reveal anything that isn’t already on show. How can I see the advanced settings?

Also on a couple of games (Banjo Tooie and F Zero X) the text and some graphics seem to be all pixelated, more so than I think they are on a genuine N64. This was most noticeable on F Zero where all the character profile pictures were crappy, but I know F Zero had crappyer than normal graphics to make it run faster. The best example is on Banjo Tooie where all white text is pixelated – basically the graphics are perfect except for white in game text which is blocky and not as good as the real thing.

Is there some way I can get rid of the pixely graphics, will the graphics be better if I play the emulator on a TV screen, or is some graphics appearing pixelated just the way emulated games will appear?

The last thing I wanted to know about was a sort of freezing in the game. The game freezes for like a microsecond making it look like it’s jumped, like when a CD skips. Is this my PC or is this something I should just expect with an emulator?

Other than that Project64 is amazing and I think all the people who helped make it are really super!

 

[Zordon]

Here are some screenshots I made of banjo and F Zero – the more I look at them the more I start the think it might just be because there on a PC screen and not the TV. Also, the graphics don’t look so pixelated when project64 is windowed.

The graphics are only noticeably pixelated when in full screen. You can see what I mean about the text though, it is kinda hard to read, especialy on F Zero X.

 

[Agozer]

Unchecking Hide "Advanced Settings" makes the Advanced and Rom Settings tabs in Jabo's Direct3D8 plugin configuration window to show up.

Enable "Always use texture flter" to make the graphics a little smoother. This will make the plugin apply bilinear filtering to everything onscreen and not just 3D objects (2D sprites, text, the works).

 

[The Spoony Hou]

If the games were running in their original resolution (or a multiple of it) the sprites would look much better. They don't fit very well in the standart PC resolutions...

 

[Agozer]

Emulated graphics never look exactly the same on a monitor as opposed to on a TV screen. This is common knowledge. You can get close with certain filters (if the emulator provides them), but that's about it.

 

[Zordon]

Thanks guys - selecting "Always use texture filter" has really improved the graphics.

Is there information about what the now unhidden "advanced" settings do in the forum FAQ or in the user manual and where can I find out about the plugins?

Also, how can I stop the stuttering that occurs? The game freezes for half a second then starts playing again - it’s not a major problem but it would be nice if I could get it to run smoother. It’s especially noticeable on Banjo Tooie and sometimes it just plain freezes which is annoying - isn’t Banjo Tooie on the list of compatible games?

Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate your help.

 

[Agozer]

Do you have the latest RDB update from the Project64 site? The old RDB might be causing problems or then there something going on with your system.

No, there isn't really anything in the FAQ on what the specific advanced options do, but they get a mention when certain games might need fixing.

"Copy Frambuffer to RDRAM" is an option that fixes many frambuffer related issues in many games (like the photo album in Pokemon Snap, video displays in different games, etc.) but it slows down emulation a lot.

"Direct3D Transformation Pipeline affects the drawing certain graphics (most notably the track in Wipeout64, Graphics is St. Andrews, etc.)

"Force Alpha Blending" fixes some transparency issues as well as shadows and whatnot.

"Use Legacy Pixel Pipeline" fixes some missing graphics, fixes texture alignment/loopping, etc.

"Wireframe Rendering" Self-explanatory.

"Adjust game aspect ratio to match yours". Overriders games' own aspect ratio perhaps? I'm not sure.

"Force Z compare" Can't say much about this. Might have to do with how objects overlap each other; or they don't when they should.

 

[Toasty]

As far as Banjo-Tooie goes, random crashes are a known issue on PJ64. (At least up through v1.6.) Their occurrence should be rare, but they can happen. (It's apparently a core issue.) 1964 v0.8.5 appears to be the best choice for that particular game if you want to completely do away with the crashes. (v0.9.9 works, but has collision issues that make some parts of the game unachievable without cheats.) I'm not sure if that core issue is what's causing your freezing problem, or what's causing problems with the other game, but that's my two cents. What are your system specs?

See this fantastic FAQ that 4real and ScottJC made for more info about running BT with as few issues as possible.

 

[Zordon]

It’s not just Banjo Tooie, its every game, like F Zero X and Majora’s Mask. The games run perfectly but then freeze for a second, before resuming their usual speed. The game doesn’t crash, just stutter slightly.

Other than that I’m using windows XP, Pentium 4 CPU 3.00GHz, 512 Mb of RAM. That’s what it said on the control panel anyway, I don’t know what any of that means. I haven’t had problems handling the graphics on any other games or emulators.

Is there no way I can mess about with the synchronisation or buffering of the game? That worked when I had some problems with SNES9x. I just want to enjoy a game without the random pauses, there not consistent enough to spoil the game but frequent enough to be annoying.

 

[The Spoony Hou]

Emulated graphics never look exactly the same on a monitor as opposed to on a TV screen. This is common knowledge. You can get close with certain filters (if the emulator provides them), but that's about it.

Yes, but if you match the original resolution you won't have that crappy factoring pixelating even more the sprites.

 

[squall_leonhart]

...except that to match the original res you have to drop back to 320x240 at the least...

 

[CaptainCannibas]

Not sure if this will help or not, but I'm running about the same horsepower as you and with a stock onboard Intel Graphics controller. I set my resolutions low. My Windowed is 640X480 and my Fullscreen is 800X600 32-bit 60hz. I don't understand many of the other settings, but I run my Full Screen Sync on Transfer Memory setting and go with 4X Anistropic Filtering. I have the bottom three boxes all checked, especially the one with the texture filter as mine shows really grainy without it. Now, I will get some errors when I first run a ROM in windowed mode, but I just click enter and get to the start of the game and switch into Full Screen and for some reason, all of my troubles go away and the games for the most part look really nice and run trouble free as far as graphics faults. The only one I had trouble with was a Monopoly game which I couldn't get to look good for anything. I run Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask and OOT and they run and look good. I do get some slight hangs here and there, especially where the computer takes a second to go to another screen as when I go to my sub menu, but all in all, everything runs well on mine. I can run 60 FPS with ease. If I set my resolutions higher, I start to get all sorts of troubles. However, I don't see any difference between running 1024X768 or 800X600 when I kick into full screen. With 800X600, I do away with all of my graphics errors in Full Screen.

 

[The Spoony Hou]

...except that to match the original res you have to drop back to 320x240 at the least...

The problem is finding the original res. If it was 320x240, then setting the emulator to 640x480 wouldn't leave any factoring in the sprites. But I think most of the games didn't use 320x240...

 

[Desert Drifter]

I recently downloaded project64 ver 1.6 and it’s a really good emulator. I got a couple of roms and they work and it’s all good. But I have a few questions about graphics.

Firstly, on the graphics options unchecking the “hide advanced settings” doesn’t seem to reveal anything that isn’t already on show. How can I see the advanced settings?

Also on a couple of games (Banjo Tooie and F Zero X) the text and some graphics seem to be all pixelated, more so than I think they are on a genuine N64. This was most noticeable on F Zero where all the character profile pictures were crappy, but I know F Zero had crappyer than normal graphics to make it run faster. The best example is on Banjo Tooie where all white text is pixelated – basically the graphics are perfect except for white in game text which is blocky and not as good as the real thing.

Is there some way I can get rid of the pixely graphics, will the graphics be better if I play the emulator on a TV screen, or is some graphics appearing pixelated just the way emulated games will appear?

The last thing I wanted to know about was a sort of freezing in the game. The game freezes for like a microsecond making it look like it’s jumped, like when a CD skips. Is this my PC or is this something I should just expect with an emulator?

Other than that Project64 is amazing and I think all the people who helped make it are really super!

Okay, as long as you play N64 games on a monitor screen, they will transfer to a pixel form, though you could select "2xsaI texture & texture filter to fix that problem a little, though will slow down speed. But, if you tranfer the games to a TV screen, it will get rid of those pixels and transfer it in a blending mode. I run the games off the LCD TV and explorer on the monitor using Dualview, so this isn't a problem on my end, though the graphics look a lot sharper and clearer on the monitor, but looks actually like the original N64 on the LCD TV.

About your "skip" freezing, Checking "Limit FPS" in the System menu fixes this problem, as I noticed it does this in Mario 64, but checking it off makes the frame rate skip faster, which will enable the game to run at speeds past what it was attended for, especially on fast PCs. Hope this helps.

 

[Zordon]

Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate your help. I will try all of these things. I used to play my genesis and snes emus on the TV and I know they look a lot more like the original thing than on the PC. The only thing is I don’t think the game freezing for a second is to do with the graphics. Anyway I hope I can get Project64 almost perfect.