GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 Community, GoldenEye X, Nintendo 64 Games Discussion

[Richie]

Hello,

I'm a huge fan of Rare games, so are Goldeneye and PD. I just recently found this website (I'm actually playing GE on my N64), and I have read that we can play more PD/GE missions, I'm so damn excited !

I got one question for you (probably dumb) but I want to know it :

Is PD/GE Files playable on N64 Console instead of N64 Emulation ? I rather to play on N64 instead of using my PC !

Thanks for the hard work you made.

[Kerr Avon]

Richie wrote:

Hello, I'm a huge fan of Rare games, so are Goldeneye and PD. I just recently found this website (I'm actually playing GE on my N64), and I have read that we can play more PD/GE missions, I'm so damn excited ! I got one question for you (probably dumb) but I want to know it : Is PD/GE Files playable on N64 Console instead of N64 Emulation ? I rather to play on N64 instead of using my PC ! Thanks for the hard work you made.

Yes, but you need a way to play it, of course, since the N64 normally can only play games from the cartridge. To play anything else, you need a hardware addon that fools the N64 into playing roms (data files) that it thinks are game cartridges.

Older (and less compatible) devices used to use CD-ROM, but modern ones (such as the Everdrive 64, and the 64Drive) use SD cards and similar.

I only have the Everdrive 64, but it's fantastic. It plays every N64 game except for five or so that don't work, because they rely on unique hardware that is built into their game cartridge*, but all of these are Japanese only games that most gamers haven't played anyway, so won't miss. Every PAL or NTSC game works, except for PAL Banjo Tooie and maybe PAL Jet Force Gemini, as BT and JFG need to be specially patched to remove protection, and I don't think the PAL versions have a patch. I just use the NTSC versions of these two games, even though I'm a PAL user, as the ED64 allows you to play any region game as long as your TV will display them.

There are a few more incompatible games, but you can get them working by downloading the fixed versions (see http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=147.0 for information).

The ED64 is very easy to use, and does everything automatically and invisibly, so the user has to do nothing other than select the game to load, then reset the N64 when finished (with the version 2 and 2.5 of the ED64, you have to reset the N64 to save the game data to the SD card, whereas the v3 ED64 their is a battery built into the ED64, so you don't have to reset the N64, you can just turn it off, and the game save will still be there when you turn it back on).

The Everdrive allows you to keep all of the N64 games on one cartridge (well, an SD card in one cartridge), play all regions games, all hacks that work on a real N64 (sadly, some hacks don't work on a real N64, such as some Super Mario 64 hacks, as they were only tested on (unreliable) emulators**), so they don't work on the ED64, even though the problem is not down to the ED64), you don't have to worry about game saves dying when the battery dies in the game cartridge as the game saves in an ED64 are stored on the SD card (so you can back up or restore them to your PC/Mac), and the loading times of the games are almost instantaneous. Plus the Ed64 allows you to backup/restore the controller pak (though only a whole controller pack at present, not single game saves), has Gameshark cheat code support, allows you to view text files (though only one screen at present), game rom patching, and even allows you to use a wallpaper (background picture for the game load menu) of your choice (see http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=2639.msg26138#msg26138 for more information) if you like.

Basically, I can't recommend the ED64 enough. You can either buy the v2.5, or pay extra for the v3 which has a build in real-time clock and lets you turn off the N64 without losing the game save data (on the v2.5, you have to reset the N64 after playing a game (then turn the N74 off, if you've finished playing on the N64) as the v2.5 can only save game save data to the ED64 after a reset). I don't need the extra features of the v3, but you might like them.

http://shop.krikzz.com/



For a list of incompatibilities, see:

http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=147.0


For reviews of the ED64, see:

http://micro-64.com/features/everdrive64.shtml

http://s9.zetaboards.com/Nintendo_64_Forever/topic/7360089/1/















* These include a Pokemon game where you talk to your in-game character via a Microphone, a Tetris game where you connect a sensor to your chest to monitor your heart rate (seriously!), a game that uses a special save chip (we're hoping that this will be fixed by a software update to the Everdrive 64), and a game that uses a real-time clock built into the cartridge. The version 3 of the Everdrive 64 does have the real-time clock built in, but as yet the game doesn't work, but the creator of the Everdrives (Krikzz) makes regular software updates to the Everdrives and will no doubt fix this soon.




** On the plus side, Goldeneye X (the reason I bought an Everdrive 64) works on the ED64, as do most Goldeneye/Perfect Dark hacks, plus F-Zero X Climax, the English translation of Sin and Punishment, the English translation of Wonder Project J2, the unreleased full game 40 Winks, lots of beta versions of released or cancelled games, etc. And lots of Super Mario 64 hacks do work on the ED64, but most don't (or rather, they won't work on a real N64, it's not the ED64's fault).. Hopefully someone will re-compile them to make them work, but for the moment most SM64 hacks are emulator only.

[Richie]

Thanks for the answer !
Well, that's not cheap, so I'll think about it.

I don't understand one or two things :

I never noticed that cartridges uses SD cards (or only Everdrive 64 ?). So by using SD card, I might be able to import/export .xdelta and .ips files, right ? (I want to try some PD/GE missions)

Saddly there's some game incompatibilites, I got some of them (Banjo Tooie and Jet Force Gemini). If I'm using ED64, I guess I won't get any trouble (e.g erasing BT datas or something like that).

[Kerr Avon]

Richie wrote:

Thanks for the answer ! Well, that's not cheap, so I'll think about it.

Yes, but it's well worth the money (being able to play game hacks, all region games, unreleased games, etc, and having *everything* on one cartridge, is brilliant!), and the v2.5 is cheaper then the v3 (I have the v2, which is just an earlier revision of the v2.5) and you might not want the extra features that the V3 has anyway.

Quote:

I don't understand one or two things : I never noticed that cartridges uses SD cards (or only Everdrive 64 ?). So by using SD card, I might be able to import/export .xdelta and .ips files, right ? (I want to try some PD/GE missions)

Well, you patch the games on your PC, using the .xdelta/etc files, and put the patched roms on the SD card. I think the Everdrive 64 does support patching, but I've never used it.

Quote:

Saddly there's some game incompatibilites, I got some of them (Banjo Tooie and Jet Force Gemini). If I'm using ED64, I guess I won't get any trouble (e.g erasing BT datas or something like that).

If you want to use your own cartridges, then just remove the ED64 and put in the game cartridge, of course. But as long as your TV supports NTSC then you can just used the pre-patched Jet Force Gemini and Banjo Tooie roms, if you prefer.

[Richie]

Ok, thanks !
That's great, I think I'll buy it.

[Richie]

I got another question for you :
I got a European N64, so only PAL games work are compatible with it (well I don't think NTSC games might work on my console though)
If I buy ED64, then I have to put some NSTC games there (Goldeneye 1.1 (U) or Perfect Dark (U)) and some patch. Will it work even if my N64 is supposed to be compatible with only PAL European ?

[Trevor]

NTSC games will work with the PAL Consol.
Make sure you have a PAL Flashcart though otherwise it wont fit in the slot among other things. (Keeping this as simple as possible)

There are notible games that run "fast" to what we have been used to (since games are developed in NTSC this is correct and in fact we have been 'slow' all these years) including FZero and MarioKart.

GoldenEye and Perfect Dark run the same.

For normal GoldenEye you want PAL or NeverSayNeverAgain patch which fixes some bugs. If you go for the patch then you get a lot more so its worth it.
If I play normal GE now I play NSNA or my real PAL Cart.
I Prefere GEX though, the reason for this topic.


WORD OF WARNING

If your TV spits out either;
Black and white
Scrolling image
No Image

then it is your TV that cant handle the signal.

The number of people complaining to developers to 'fix' the problem is unreal.

Trev
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[Richie]

Alright, thank for your answer !

Yes, I have heard of TV compatibilities, I didn't check mine yet, I hope it will be fine.

Well, I already have PAL Goldeneye so I'll buy ED64 for GEX !

[Kerr Avon]

Yes, the PAL N64 + PAL ED64 can play all regions of games (PAL, NTSC, and JAP). The problem is that some PAL TVs can't display NTSC mode, although almost every TV made in the last ten or fifteen years can, especially flatscreen LCD TVs.

I have two TVs, one displays every NTSC/JAP game fine on my PAL N64, but on the other TV some NTSC/JAP games cause my TV screen to turn black, and nothing I can do (Until I reset the N64) appears on the TV screen. The music/game sounds still play, and if I plug the N64 into the other TV in our house then I get the full picture OK, meaning that it's the TV at fault. The problem seems to be that some NTSC games use resolutions that my PAL TV can't display, whereas the other (older...) PAL TV in our house displays them fine. This only happened on a few games - Indiana Jones* is the only one I can remember that stayed black all the way through, though a few games like Stunt Racre 64, and Goldeneye X didn't show their boot screen as the TV went black but changed back on their main menus, and displayed the game fine from then on, and though there were a couple more (not games I cared about, or I'd remember them) most NTSC games ran fine on my TV.

It's a bad situation, made much worse by the fact that many modern TVs have trouble showing the output from older consoles (N64, Playstation, and older, including SNES, Atari 2600, etc) - even PAL SNES games on a PAL TV (or NTSC SNES games on a NTSC TV) can look bad, or even not display at all, since some newer TVs aren't designed to show resolutions as low as the older consoles use. But if your current TV shows your (PAL) games, then it should be fine. But next time you buy a TV, you might want to take your N64 (and older consoles, if you have any) into the shop to try them on the TV you're planning to buy. I'm going to do that.

Just google for lots of complaints by retro gamers on the incompatibility problems of some 'new' (last ten years or so) TVs with older consoles. And so far at least (as far as I know), no TV manufacturer has addressed these problems yet, by either making all of their TVs fully compatible with the Atari 2600/NES/etc onwards, or at least by saying in the TV's specification list whether or not the TV is fully compatible with older consoles.

There is a HDMI mod being made for the N64, which will make it compatible with all TVs (that have HDMI input), as well as look better than most inputs, but it's not out yet, it might be pretty expensive, you need decent soldering skills to put it in, and of course it won't make older consoles work on your TV. So a manufacturer who recognises that people want to use pre-XBox/PS2/Gamecube consoles on their TVs, would be a huge help to us.





* The PAL version of Indiana Jones was never released, but thankfully a few months back someone found a full, pre-release copy and released it for free on the 'net, so now I can play the game on both TVs!

[Trevor]

* The PAL version of Indiana Jones was never released, but thankfully a few months back someone found a full, pre-release copy and released it for free on the 'net, so now I can play the game on both TVs!

Really? wow, OK, that might explain not finding any for sale
Its a good game though.
It does have its problems such as Indy MUST be looking EXACTLY Perpindicular to walls to be able to grab them, otherwise he just slides up and down them never attempting to grab.

His ladder climb was also very weird with his legs apart...

Trev
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[Kerr Avon]

I've not yet played it, but I'm glad we finally got it. It was a real pity it never came out commercially for us PAL gamers, as it's the only Tomb Raider game on the N64, and it's apparently pretty good (and better than the PC version, so I've heard).

To read about the PAL version's eventual release, see here:


http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?52059-Indiana-Jones-amp-the-Infernal-Machine-PAL-version-leaked

https://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?52022-Indiana-Jones-N64-PAL