Z64

Z64 is a low-level emulation (LLE) video plugin for N64 emulators, originally based on the RDP code from MAME/MESS, although little of that code remains.

Unlike most video plugins, it does not emulate the RSP, so it needs a separate RSP plugin to produce any output.

For this it comes with its own RSP plugin, which offers a faster option based on Project64 1.4 code and a slower one based on MAME/MESS code. The faster option can run into a few problems.

Emulating the RDP separately from the RSP makes the plugin more direct and more accurate.

The project never aimed to beat plugins such as Glide64 and Rice Video. Instead, it aimed to emulate, if slowly, games whose microcode had never been reverse engineered. Its developer disappeared and development stopped, despite significant progress with undocumented microcode.

Z64’s approach lives on in newer plugins: Angrylion-Plus is a faster, pixel-accurate software renderer, and ParaLLEl-RDP runs the same kind of low-level emulation on the GPU through Vulkan, fast enough for full speed with upscaling. ParaLLEl-RDP is built into Rosalie’s Mupen GUI, simple64, gopher64 and RetroArch rather than offered as a separate plugin.