N64 Emulator Support about provenance

[JoeMatt]

I have preliminary N64 support via mupen64plus 2.5 on my fork/branch
https://github.com/JoeMatt/Provenance/tree/mupen

ROMS load without error but they're not playable due to some OpenGL changes that need to be made. Also no sound or input controls are hooked up. Basically it's just a test that it can be compiled and execute the core on a ROM.

Some important things to note:

• mupen uses dlopen so components needed to be compiled as dynamic frameworks. This means an iOS version of 8+ is required. I suspect as more cores are added in the future dyn frameworks would be preferred over static libs currently used as I've already seen issues with namespace collisions for cores that share external libraries.
• I originally was using static libs and there were namespace collisions with some other cores over static constant labels. I did a bunch of renaming that isn't necessary now
• Ambiguous header imports for headers that shared names also caused issues so I used relative paths as a hack
• Mupen executes on a separate thread. This means the OpenGL context needs to be created on that thread. I've hacked in the creation of a new context on the same execution thread just to get the rom's to load without error. You cannot actually see what is drawn. OpenEMU has support for cores to render their on their own, this would need to be added to Provenence. Looks simple enough but I'm not terrible familiar with the differences between NSOpenGL and EGL on iOS. Someone with more experience should tackle this.
• There are some hacks and todo's noted in the source. It's a holiday and I ran out of time to make things pretty in some cases. I also assumed @jasarien might want to change file layout structure anyway to match the other cores so I didn't bother going crazy keeping things pretty. This was just an exercise in getting it to compile and run.

I can make a pull request since it's all on a separate branch and then contributors could work from the main repo. Let me know what's preferred.

[JoeMatt]

Core is running games now, kind of.
Screenshot

• Performance is poor in simulator. Might be due to OpenGLEs to OpenGL conversion that has to happen in sim
• Doesn't run at all on device. Crashes due to some other OpenGL API issue.
• Dynamic Recompiler won't work on non-jailbroken devices so expect even worse performance
• If I were to allow Dynarec, would need to figure out some run-time way of enabling it. Right now it isn't even compiling on ARM anyway.
• Dynarec I think doesn't support ARM64 on the current fork we'er building again. Would need to investigate this.
• Obviously i have some more OpenGL work to do since the screen is ¼ size.

tldr; Progress but don't get your hopes up for non-JB devices anytime soon.

[JoeMatt]

My stella port is pretty much done minus one bug so I'm willing to take a look at this again. Don't know how far I'll get with these OpenGL issues. I know the emulation is working though because I do get a second or two of audio on some games before the renderer crashes.

[JoeMatt]

My branch is up to date with master after the recent core merges.

https://github.com/JoeMatt/Provenance/tree/mupen

It should build in Xcode 8.1 in non release configuration. GL issues are still present, I just made changes to get it to build again with the updated project framework architecture.

[appletv4]

@JoeMatt with icade working on Apple TV now

Maybe this will work too when you get n64 running
http://www.8bitdo.com/n64/

[braindx]

Just opened a new pull request with initial support for N64 emulation: #677

[paviro]

Just tried the N64 emulator in retroarch it works great on iOS except the app is horrible to use compared to this one...
Looking forward to see it here some day! :)

[drewcovi]

agreed with @b- Many N64 games suffered very little when ported to Gamecube... the C buttons were intended for the "camera" in the first place, weren't they? makes it almost ideal for a mapping to the second joystick...

[Andorbast]

The MFI controller works great for N64 games on OpenEmu for MacOS. You are able to map the c buttons to the right analog stick. When airplayed to the Apple TV there is a small lag but to big for comfortable gaming tough. Any news about the N64 provenance?

[jasarien]

Reopening this issue just so it's more visible for those who keep raising duplicates.

[xoniq]

Would this be possible by by forking:

https://github.com/zodttd/n64ios
?

[jasarien]

Nothing's impossible. It's just a case of time and effort, both of which are pretty limited.

Last commit on that Repo was over 3 years ago, though, so I'd probably favour something more recent.

https://github.com/rileytestut/N64iOS

this is another possibility even though it is also a bit old

https://github.com/mupen64plus

is supported by open emu

[RedLucas]

I suppose the best would be to use the same as OpenEMU does with https://github.com/OpenEmu/Mupen64Plus-Core / https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core

OpenEMU "supports" it now, so perhaps they are pretty confident in what it can do now as well. This would be a spectacular addition...

[Mkaay83]

Good idea i suppose?!

[xoniq]

Anything on this yet? This would be awesome. To play Mario 64, Zelda OOT, DK64, CBFD again.

[EdStark666]

Very interested in N64 Support :-) jasarien Please!

[xoniq]

@JoeMatt that looks really promising! Awesome to see someone working on it.

[illando]

That's a really great news @JoeMatt ! Thanks!!!

[Andorbast]

I would be so happy when I am able to play old school N64 games on my Apple TV!! Thanks @JoeMatt for all the efforts so far

[beeblebox]

@Andorbast I agree, is there a page where we can donate?

Also @JoeMatt would this support 2 controller support?

I find I can't use my second controller for any of the existing emulators because those systems were small single player modules.

[jasarien]

@beeblebox Most of the currently supported systems support local multiplayer with multiple MFi controllers. Multiple iCade controllers aren't supported because of the way they work. Only Gameboy doesn't support multiplayer because it's a single player system.

[JoeMatt]

fyi, just launched a few commercial iOS app updates and now i'm on a show vacation so haven't looked at this in a bit and probably won't for another week but I'm still on it. All my changes so far are on my fork is any OpenGL coders can fix the multithreading render issues i'm having.

[beeblebox]

@jasarien so would my Nimbus controllers work with appletv snes emulator in 2 player mode?

@JoeMatt whats your iOS apps? i wanna download them to support you

[revnelson]

@beeblebox Yes, I have successfully played snes games with two Nimbus controllers connected to the Apple TV. Really excited for N64 support.

[tonycoco]

@JoeMatt I might be able to help. Will take a look and make notes on your fork when I have some time this week.

[ArnaudFeld]

Any News about the N64-Support?

[JoeMatt]

I've had some unexpected things come up and I've hadn't had time to work on any FOSS projects for a bit. I haven't forgotten about it though. It will probably be a couple weeks before I can start up again.

[soraythus]

N64 support would be so awesome!!! who hasn't great memories of those good old days :) thx for keeping that dream alive!!

i'm really not a programmer, but from my experience with openemu on my mac i hope that not only the rice video plugin, but also the glide64(mk) plugin will be supported. some games just don't work with rice.

[soraythus]

@jasarien how can i donate a little something?

[MysticalOS]

Ugg Retro disgusts me. I couldn't use it. I tried, it was awful, never again.

[paviro]

Yeah it totally sucks but hey it works...

[diogoviannaaraujo]

Seems the news on this have stopped..

[appletv4]

@JoeMatt when will you add the Atari emulator to provenance pull request
And thanks for your work on the n64

[JoeMatt]

@appletv4 In the ticket for Stella (Atari) I have one bug that needs to be fixed before I do that. It works with MFI controllers but crashes using on screen controls. I've reached out for some help with why that would be the case because I'm not familiar with the control code and haven't had time to dig into it more.

[beeblebox]

@JoeMatt did you give up? I was hoping to have a n64 Apple TV port by now /:

[JoeMatt]

Not given up, just put my efforts elsewhere in the meantime. I've added Atari 2600, 5200, 7800 and Sega 32X cores and am starting work on PS1.

And also,N64 support would really need new controller solution since MFi controllers only support 4 buttons +DPAD + 4 triggers. Some of the devs are working on a possible solution on this but it's probably going to be a while.

[beeblebox]

@JoeMatt ok thanks. Please let me know when the PS1 emulator is ready because that sounds awesome

[b-]

@JoeMatt What about the MFi Apple TV controllers with dual thumb sticks? I have one myself, they carry two brands at most Apple Stores…

[JoeMatt]

It's not the sticks, it's the lack of other buttons.
N64: 3 Triggers (L,R,Z) 1 DPAD, 1 Joystick, 7 buttons (B,A,Start,CU,CD,CL,CR)
MFI: 4 Triggers, 1 DPAD, 2 Joystick, 4 buttons.

That's it. Apple's GameController class has those buttons pre-defined and hardware dev's have to stick to that layout or lesser.

The only idea I've managed to come up with is making an app to bounce inputs from a desktop to ATV over the network.

There's some project that maybe does that, https://github.com/robreuss/VirtualGameController . I've only glanced at the README, not sure if it does what we need or not yet. I'll test this after I fix 32X, merge that with the Xcode 8 changes and then maybe add another core (Neo Geo or PSX).

There's also an updated libretro fork of mupen I need to look over, https://github.com/loganmc10/GLupeN64

And another entirely new project I found recently, https://github.com/project64/project64

[kdrag0n]

Just a warning: I've heard about Project 64 before. Be wary of viruses when you download the Windows installer - it's been known to have viruses in the past embedded into it, like adware. Not sure if it still has them.

About the N64 controller mapping: Why not just map what you can for MFi controllers, and leave the rest (full experience) to touch only?
(I don't know how any of this would work, since I don't have a MFi controller)

If you read my edited comment on your pull request, I managed to get it to compile in Xcode 8.

[b-]

I mean, the GameCube controller has the exact same number of buttons, and it works great for N64 games. The right stick often can be mapped to the C buttons and you can call it a day. Or there are so many games that don't use the D-Pad at all that it could be mapped to the C buttons on those. All in all, I don't see how the controller could be an issue since Nintendo's own N64 emulators use a similarly-specced controller.

[b-]

I guess what I'm saying is that remapping can totally take care of the number of buttons issue.

[QuarterSwede]

I don't see the controller being an issue either. Map Z to L2 and/or R2 and the C buttons to the right analog stick. That takes care of every button and is usable with two hands at the same time (unlike mapping C to the D-Pad) if you need to move the character and the camera simultaneously, for instance.

[JoeMatt]

I wouldn't spend too much concern on controller mappings at all right now. There are much more difficult technical hurtles to overcome.

[drewcovi]

👍

[jasarien]

@appletv4 😂 I wonder how long until Nintendo starts noticing these controllers and decides whether or not this counts as copyright infringement

[mattmagi]

The day N64 is compatible I will be so happy...007 and Mario Kart here we come! Id be willing to donate if that helps!

[ankh2054]

I would also be willing to donate. I just want to play Killer Instinct N64 :)

[jasarien]

A note on donations: https://github.com/jasarien/Provenance/issues/513#issuecomment-272658255

[arteaga323]

Just want to say thank you guys for an awesome work! Also I would love to play N64 again on my phone! Can't wait! Thanks for everything!

[dallasgroot]

I'm trying to install this onto my atv4 but I keep getting build problems... I just changed the bundle identifier

[aenhsaihan]

Hey guys, happy to pitch in here any way I can. I tried Happy Chick, and it seems to work fine on iOS. But the fact that it was made in China and the way it sources the ROMs seemed very shady to me. It just didn't seem smart to blindly install it on my device. I would much rather help you guys out any way I can to get a safe and trusted N64 emulator on this platform. What do you guys think of those emulators like Happy Chick or NewGamePad on Tweakbox?

[appletv4]

http://gizmodo.com/this-snes-style-nintendo-switch-controller-is-designed-1795858424

[jasarien]

Now that looks pretty cool.

[TBusen]

Is this still being worked? Would love N64 support!

[tonycoco]

@JoeMatt any progress getting this merged to master?

[jasarien]

N64 support has been merged into the develop branch

[drewcovi]

Oh em gee

[dallasgroot]

Does this mean what I think it means? This is going to be freaking awesome!

[drakkhen]

Wooooot!!! Can’t wait to get home to try it out! Thank you!!

[tomp8628]

I literally only understand how to load the iPA on to my Apple TV, so will an updated iPA be made available with N64 support? Sorry for being a novice on here.