Dr.Mario - Retexture Startup Issues

[Sensire]

Hi Friends,

my favorite ROM is Dr.Mario 64 (U) and i love it so much and i am playing this ROM for years and i think i'm a pro in this ROM. The graphics are not superb or big in size or number. Small game with small amount of textures. I'm playing this ROM on my Sanyo 720p projector and the huge screen looks ugly with lowres-textures. So i think, this could be my project for the melancholic autumn and winter days. Making Dr.Mario look sharp and crisp on my huge screen.

I have seen a lot of YT Videos and they all describe a way using the ROM "Super Mario 64" and how to capture hires_textures to harddisc. In these videos everything worked fine with plugins and so on.

Then, i started Project64 2.2.0.3 and got into settings. I have chosen f.e. Mudlord's Rice Video Build 6.1.3. - DX9 (same like in the YT videos).... but then the whole Dr.Mario 64 (U) ROM has bad graphics and so are my recorded textures. They are all broken/damaged/bad/miscolored. Even the sound is bad and the ROM is unplayable. Then after i tried some other Plugins but they all ended up in a broken Dr.Mario 64 (U) ROM

Now my question: Which Emulator and which Plugin should i use for a working and goodlooking, hires-texture capture in Dr.Mario 64 (U)?

I'm using an good PC with win7 64bit, 16GB of fast memory and my graphicscard is from 2013.

Screenshots:

  Spoiler:

TIA

Sensire

 

[NES_player4LIFE]

I would recommend the latest (Stable) version of Project 64 along with GlideN64 which supports hires textures and outputs High-definition nicely.
Requires OpenGL 4.0>

This is an older video but I don't think the plugin regressed. Again I highly recommend GlideN64.

Don't mind the gameplay.

 

[Sensire]

Hi NES_player4LIFE

Thanks for helping me this (easy for you) way. I deinstalled all stuff, reinstalled, activated GlideN64 and it works. Now i can toggle with letter "d" dumping on/off and with "r" a fast texture reload. Found out, that PJ64 sometimes will not really change the plugins in the background. After killing the task and restart very new, it make some changes. So everything is okay now.

TIA

Sensire

 

[NES_player4LIFE]

To change the plugin be sure to select the desired option, whether it is system default or current game settings.

Glad to be of service.
Please consider posting a DR Mario project thread within the WIP texture pack section of this forum.

 

[Sensire]

Thank you NP4L...

I found out, that toggling around with system and game plugins simultaneous, will confuse pj64. i can reproduce errors inside emulation settings. i had to reinstall pj64 two times because of wrong settings and wrong relations between .ini files and directorys. Only if you clearly know what to do, there will be no errors . From now on, i know what to do and what not.

 

[NES_player4LIFE]

Please report any issues on the Project 64 GitHub, I'm glad that you are up and running. Can't wait to see DR Mario transformed!

 

[Sensire]

Hi NP4L....

i managed it with GlideN64 to rip/get a huge amount of PNGs out of the game. They are all named/numbered in a cryptic manner and my directory is filled up to 1000 files. Now i have changed a texture (blue pills from Dr.Mario) from 16x220 into 32x440 and copied into hires_textures. The blue pills were altered and reloaded as a texture change in PJ64. But the result was horrible and even worse, no HD no fancyness. Now i want to know, how to make these changed textures look HD like in Super Mario and Zelda.....

I think i know what to do and i know that a lot of work needs to be done...but i don't know which steps are need to be taken. So i need to read further forum stuff and FAQs. Maybe i will find a thread for very new starters/beginners.

Second thing is, that i want to rip/get textures out of PJ64 on my notebook while i am at work. Believe me, i have a huge amount of sparetime in the nightshift. But the same settings and the same software will not give me the same results. While changing to GlideN64 on the notebook, all textures are broken or misplaced. Notebook has OpenGL4.5, NVIDIA GeForce730M and 16GB RAM. This confuses me so much. I like defined and reproducable states....but this will not happen.

thx

Sensire

 

[NES_player4LIFE]

Hires Textures are more then up-scaled files. Most of us create our own replacement images and paste them onto the original file.
Files should be 4X original size. 2X will work but 4X is much better.

We have old tutorials within this forum, I've been meaning to update them but it seems that I can't dedicate the time.

I can't even begin to troubleshoot your issue. Sorry. My best guess would be drivers/GPU related.

 

[Sensire]

Hi NP4L....

i have seen your Space Invaders work. It seems to be clear for me, what to do with the PNG files. I can see your f.e. "A" and "B" buttons exchange. They were loaded in hi-res and they look crisp. If i'm doing the same within Dr.Mario with a "blue pill" (PNG from net) even in 1800x800, it looks like lego or a chessboard. No hi-res, only lo-res like everything else. There seems to be something wrong with my thinking or doing. There is no hi-res displayed nowhere. Everything is 640x480 or upscaled bloggy lo-res. Attention! Then i tried to exchange the - "blue pill" 1800x800 pixel - inside your Space Invaders directory.....and .....tara .... it works. The "blue pill" is in crisp hi-res and correct displayed as button "A" within Space Invaders. Next step for me was, getting an "Y" Button (from net in 256x256) in hi-res and exchanged them exactly with the "A" button. It works and this is understandable. But all stuff related to Dr.Mario is lo-res. I'm going crazy and cannot understand, why my hi-res "blue pill" will displayed as lo-res in Dr.Mario, and the same PNG is displayed in hi-res in Space Invaders.

Thanks

- - - Updated - - -

[Update] I found it..... I started to switch every frigg'n button and checked/unchecked every lousy box. And then it happened. It goes hi-res and my PNGs where displayed correct.

The wrong checked box under the Tab GlideN64 Settings/Emulation named: "Emulate Frame Buffer" (off)

Now my WIP can start..... puhhhh!

Thanks for not killing me and always have an open ear.....

 

[NES_player4LIFE]

To be sure that textures are created properly only size them by 4X, 8X, 32X, 64X...
Improper sizing will cause issues for users.

Thu button that you clicked was (ALT Texture size) I believe.

Dump all of your files and arrange them by location such as opening logos, option screen, ingame, carters, backgrounds, etc...

 

[Sensire]

WIP in progress....

just want to tell, that i PJ64 is dumping files for me, while i am playing through the 1 player mode and the (easy) story mode. PJ64 has just dumped 32.900+ files. This is crazy much stuff and even categorizing 'em is insane. Now i have to dump textures for 2 player, 3 player and 4 player modes. Story mode in medium and hard and story mode with wario easy/medium/hard has to be dumped. I think i will encounter about 50.000 textures after that..... :getlost:

Thx

 

[NES_player4LIFE]

"WIP in progress"
So you are working on a work in progress. :blink:

To catalog the files dump only one screen at a time. Create folders for each thing that you see on that screen.

 

[Sensire]

WIP in progress, in progress

#1#
Yes you're bloody right. I have to work simultaneously. 1. Dumping one screen and 2. Create directorys and put 'em in. Then start a new screen/level/mode/boss/options/credits/etc. I wish, these textures would be greater in size. I don't know why they are f.e. in 304x6 pixels. 6 Pixels, this is even not 2/4/8/16/32/64 stuff.

#2#
Is it possible to use Glide64 for dumping and GlideN64 for playing? I have encountered a few bugs in "Dr.Mario with GlideN64" if not, my GlideN64-project seems to be in danger. Is there a way to get in touch with actual GlideN64 programmers? I would like to tell them the problems with "Dr.Mario with GlideN64" and maybe they can eliminate them....

thx

 

[NES_player4LIFE]

@1
Those files are background slices. There should be 120 of them. You should only enlarge them by the multiplication of 4/8/16/...

@2
Glide, Rice video, and GlideN64 are all able to rip the textures. Each plugin has it's own advantages and disadvantages.
I would recommend using all three to rip if possible. GlideN64 should provide the best playback experience.

Programmers.

You've got it!
I can't wait to see the results!

 

[Sensire]

Hi Friends.....

would like to say that it is not possible for me to get Dr.Mario properly running with GlideN64 (strong failures, menuglitches #110, #331 and weird framebuffer workaround) and my selfmade HD Textures. To play it correct, you have to switch a lot of things and then all HD Textures are gone.

Instead i'm using Glide64 and finished the work on the Bootlogo Screen. This is a good way to get familiar with colors/transparency/size/ratio aso.

....still alive

 

[Sensire]

Still alive.... got my new PC with D*ll 4K Monitor and new NV**ia GTX960 Card. Managed to reinstall my recently bought Ad*be Photoshop and load some before edited stuff. And now i'm encountering so much new Problems with 4K experiences. From now on there is a strong need for 4K Dr.Mario instead of 1K Dr.Mario. So i started to calculate everything from scratch and found some bad stuff. Here is something i would like to get fixed or might find a workaround:

1. The Resolution. Dr.Mario runs in 640x480 pixel. A high definition 1K upscale (x2) makes it 1280x960 pixels and an incredible 4K upscale (x4) even lifting it up to 2560x1920 pixels. So i started to upscale my Textures to double and even quadruple size. But my Glide64 will not support 1280x960 pixels in fullscreen (only windowed mode), in fullscreen it autoswitches to 1280x1024 pixels. This makes the textures look weird and missized on edges. And in the menu there is no way to change to 2560x1920 pixels resolution. Is there a way to get 2560x1920 pixels in windowed mode?

2. The falling pills are not capturable textures. Where are these textures stored? They are still in low-res and i cannot manage to find them anywhere in the dump folder.

THX in advance

 

[NES_player4LIFE]

Larger textures make for a bigger pack.
Glide64 was produced before 4k was a thing. Most users don't yet have 4k displays please keep this in mind.

It seems that these textures are not your conventional files, but are found with the viruses and features.

(The attached are actual raw texture dumps that you may edit)

 

[Sensire]

@ Np4L

Thank you for ripping these 3 textures off and have a warm look and really trying to help me. I have learned a very very lot in the past. I got all these textures ripped and categorized already. Your three PNGs above are the Pills and i have redrawn them already pixel by pixel. But these Pills PNGs where not used for the falling pieces. They started in Dr.Marios hand as hires texture, then they were thrown into the glass and from now on they are lowres textures. Just when they touch other pills or hit the ground then they will change back into hires textures. I have checked all my textures and found no more textures for lowres pills. You may take a look on my screenshot....

 

[NES_player4LIFE]

Oh, my bad. You are right these are in fact two different files.
Hmm not sure why they refuse to dump, odd.

 

[Sensire]

I found a strange behaviour in my two systems. I have a desktop PC with 4K Monitor and a Laptop with 1K Monitor. Both Systems running PJ64 v2.2.0.3 and Glide64 v2.0.0.5, both with same settings.... but what is the difference? On my 1K Laptop the falling pills are hires. on my 4K Desktop the falling pills are lowres. From now on i definitely know, that my pills are within the dumped gfx. My next step is to find out, why the 4K Desktop will not display them in hires. Maybe some kind of "bad" cache.... will uninstall and re-install all stuff and have a look. Danke