Ideal visual settings for N64?

Libretro Cores
#1

Hey guys.

Running Windows 10, using ParraLLEl core. I’m trying to find out the best settings for visuals here. I know the term “best settings” can be ambiguous, so let me clarify what I’m looking for.

I suppose what I am aiming for would be called visual accuracy? I want the proper resolutions (albeit stretched to a 3:2 aspect) and the right texture settings.

I’ve heard Glide64 is best for upscaling, and Angrylion is best for native resolution… but when I switch between them (even at the 320x240 setting) Angrylion just looks like a super digitized mess. I also have had some performance issues there as well with certain games, but I’m sure that’s just how it goes.

So what’s the best settings to get as close as possible to how the game would have actually looked on a real N64?

#2

If you want it to look like original hardware, angrylion plus a nice CRT shader is the way to go. If you have trouble maintaining full speed with angrylion, you can run glide64 down to a low res and do a CRT shader over it and it should look similar.

#3

Ιf you don’t want to use ParaLLel, the best next thing for me was using Mupen at a high resolution (to smooth out the jaggies since the N64 does that also) and then use one blur filter to make the graphics look closer to the real N64 and a simple scanline shader on top of that.

There are plenty of different blur filters and you might want to test a bunch of them and their options until you find the look you like.

Here is an old post of mine with some example pics and my settings:

#4

When you say Glide64 down to a low res - what do you mean exactly? The Core Options settings, I only use 320x240 and then 640x480 on the few games I know for sure supported it.

But the textures and stuff look so different between Glide64 and AngryLion at that low-resolution, and then the filters in Core Options change stuff so much as well. I’m just not sure what’s more ‘accurate’ looking.

For the CRT shader stuff, I usually don’t do too much of that at the moment, but mostly because I am running an HDMI to RF converter. (Channel 3 FTW) Of course, that displays everything at 720x480i… hence the 3:2 aspect ratio.

I don’t have a physical N64 deck or power cord (got everything else) Games, Expansion Pak, AV Cables, Controllers lol so I can’t do a side-by-side.

#5

So if I understand correctly, the physical N64’s raw graphics would be both anti-aliased and blurred before being sent to the TV?

So that then, I could for sure tackle with shaders.

I guess I’m mostly concerned then about the Core Options’ filter setting than anything. Should I just leave that at Auto if I’m on AngryLion? If I have to use Glide, is the Auto setting gonna choose a different filter on that plugin?

#6

Yes N64 games are both antialiased and filtered (blurred).

ParaLLel and Angrylion needs the VI filter enabled and no shaders other than scanlines since it renders the graphics accurately. With the VI filter disabled you gain some speed and sharper graphics but you also get some dithering effects and it doesn’t look like the real thing.

Mupen and GlideN64 i guess leave it to auto. You need shaders to simulate the blurriness and antialiasing of the real N64. I did a lot of testing and tried a lot of shaders. The ones i posted above in the link are the best for me if you need to use Mupen for better speed.

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#7

I think I’m getting myself turned around quite a bit here.

So, ideal setting for visual accuracy would be Parrallel + angrylion +autofilter +VI enabled +scanline shader?

#8

If you want accurate visuals, as in how they look on the real N64, ParaLLel + Angrylion is the most accurate look but also the slowest. Of course, without a CRT shader it will look like crap on a modern LCD. If you apply a CRT-Geom shader over that it should look like the real thing.

Mupen+GlideN64 is an alternative if you want proper speed because Angrlylion is a very demanding plugin. But GlideN64 isn’t accurate, you get much sharper graphics than the real N64. That’s why in this case, i recommend the options i posted in the link, to get a somewhat close look of how the real N64 looked, without having to deal with the slowness of Angrylion.

Edit: Yes, Parallel + Angrylion + VI enabled + a scanline shader is the most accurate. Dunno about the “autofilter” i need to look it up myself.

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#9

Yeah that part really get’s confusing. I assumed for the longest time that “N64 3-Point” filter would be the best, like I thought maybe that’s what the N64 just ‘used’. Probably was mistaking it for the bluring and AA features now that I think about it.

I noticed though, playing Mischief makers, that the graphics were CRAZY blurry with that filter… so now I’m not sure lol

#10

Ok i checked the core options.

You need Dithering - ON and VI overlay - ON

Texture filtering is “automatic”. As far as i know, the accurate option is “N64 3-point”. I assume the auto option enables that. Personally i can’t see any difference between this and bilinear. I just set it to auto.

If you use a good scanline shader like Geom, the graphics should look a bit sharper, like a good quality CRT and still have accurate graphics.

#11

Eh, when i load Mischief Makers with ParaLLEl the controls don’t work for some reason… So i can’t test it. Is it only me?

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#12

OMG I literally made a post about this the other day! hahahhaa.

I had to download a different ROM and then it worked. Which is super weird 'cause I had a No-Intro set ROM.

#13

Yeah thanks for the info. I fixed it also.

I was using version 1.1 of the rom and ParaLLel didn’t like it. Version 1.0 seems OK.

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#14

OhHO! You know ive always kept the highest version and deleted all that info from my sets. Never came up before now! I’m gonna go back and put that info in the thread I made about it.

I wonder what they did in 1.1 that would have such an effect. How strange. Anyway, the blurriness is most visible on the loading screen that has everyones portrait on it.

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#15

So I’ve set all those settings up, but turning the VI overlay on seems to completely disable graphics. I get sound and controls work, but there’s nothing but a black screen.

#16

Try using gl shaders instead of cg or vice versa

Also, keep in mind that you don’t need these shaders for Parallel + Angrylion except for scanlines only.

So basically:

Mupen+GlideN64 = 2 shaders, a blur + Crt Geom, like in the link i posted.

Parallel+Angrylion = 1 shader, Crt Geom only

IMO, you should reduce or disable the curvature of the Geom shader as well.

#17

That stuff I get, and actually that table is pretty straight forward, so awesome!

The problem I run into is the VI Overlay being on at all is causing black screen. I don’t even have any shaders enabled at this point. Tested it on multiple games too.

As long as VI overlay is enabled, I get no graphics.

#18

Assuming you’re using a CRT via RF in 480i resolution, a scanline shader will make the image freak out even harder, so definitely do not use any scanline shaders if that’s the case. You shouldn’t need any shaders if you’re chasing accuracy and already using angrylion and a CRT. 240p would be a lot more accurate and better than 480i though.

#19

Hmmm, try changing the resolution output maybe, in the options. I had a similar issue before and increasing the resolution fixed that.

Increasing the resolution in Parallel + Angrylion doen’t really increase the internal resolution of the games, it just upscales the image. So you don’t lose from accuracy perspective. In fact, i don’t think you will notice any difference.

@butanebob

Yeah, CRT shaders are supposed to emulate a CRT TV so you don’t need such shader. But i don’t know many people who do this, most of the time it’s either a modern display or a standard high-res CRT monitor. I’m using the later and still need a CRT shader.

#20

@butanebob - Yeah I’ve yet to find a scanline shader that does anything properly with the 480i setup via HDMI>RF. Which of course makes total sense. If I could figure out the HOW, I would totally be passing this to the TV at 240p instead… but I don’t know how I would do that. My only options are converting the signal too as I can’t fit a second card in it or anything. It’s the converter box I have that’s outputting it at 720x480i - so I guess if I could find something that took an HDMI input and output either an S-Video, Composite, or RF signal at 240p that would work. Not sure if they make something like that though.

@GemaH - Upping the resolution to 640x480 in the core options did the trick. Now the VI overlay works and you can TOTALLY see how the Dithering and VI Overlay options affect the image. Throwing CRT-Geom with the NTSC-Colors shader at about 65% Intensity did the trick. It looks ****ing phenomenal now.

Tinkering with Scanline shaders on the CRT? Seems like the biggest limitation is the vertical resolution. It’s gotta be more than 2x for the black lines to even show up. Of course, it being interlaced kind of makes it flicker a bit, but you have to be so zoomed in for it to work that it’s all just not even worth it.

Gotta figure out a 240p solution…

Anyway! Thanks for everyone’s help getting that all straightened out. It’s all pure gold now on N64.

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