Unconventional Bomberman 64 Speed Improvement

[Iconoclast]

I am driven mad by this question. While reading the Project64 manual, I was very interested in what I was learning about ROM, emulator, and plugin configuration. It said that "None" was the fastest option for any Nintendo 64 ROM, but is very insecure. "Protect Memory" is the slowest and most secure option for memory self-modification.

I know a certain game, Bomberman 64, to be slightly slow sometimes. Out of insanity, I changed the setting from "Check Memory Advanced" to "Protect Memory" and it was fast, to say the least. I felt so happy I could film videos of my gameplay in the game better. But, with me, happiness always comes with something bad. In this case, insanity. Typical.

Why does it do that?!? It's supposed to be at 15 to 20 FPS with that option on or something!! Somebody, help me retain my insanity in this world of logic where things have to make sense! Does anyone know or could anyone guess why it's so much faster with this option?

[jambog]

"If a game does not use self modifying code (e.g. Mario64) this can be set to None (but read notes below). A typical self modifying code game such as Zelda (and many others) are optimal on "check memory and cache" or "change memory and cache" or "check memory advance" (depends on game). Some games will only run stable on "protect memory", which is a very secure method. Some trial and error is needed for you to find out which setting is best - you are looking for the fastest method that doesn't crash."

Thats what my Manuel says about this. I don't see where is says that "None" is the fastest option for any ROM. It also says some games will only run stable on the "protect memory" setting. I guess Bomberman 64 is one of those games that will only run stable on the "protect memory" setting.

[Iconoclast]

Thank you for your opinions.

Either the protect memory or change memory and cache option worked with Bomerman 64. It was originally set to Change Memory and Cache, which worked and was supposed to be faster.

Keep looking in the manual. It mentions the order of the options in order from fastest to most secure.

Originally Posted by the Project64 manual

Many games use "self modifying code". In a nutshell, this makes them harder to keep running during play. Project64 has several methods of dealing with these situations, which range from fast at one end to more secure (stable) at the other. In order from fastest to most secure these are:
None > Cache > Check Memory and Cache > Check Memory Advance > Change Memory and Cache > Protect Memory

By the way, I fixed an intro sync problem. I set the Counter Factor to 1 instead of 2, and the intro music is synced perfectly with the background now. Read that whole page, jambog. Interesting stuff.

And, finally, I realize that whatever reason it sped up, it was not because of changing it to Protect Memory. I changed it back to Change Memory and Cache and it was just as fast. I must have changed something else I forgot as well, but I have no idea what. For a long time I've wondered how to speed up that game, and now I've finally done it without knowing how.

[Iconoclast]

Now I can film Bomberman 64 videos at a better rate. This is...good. It's only once every 5 months that I ever feel this happy.

I have a challenge. Anyone who can find me a Banjo-Tooie ROM that doesn't have an internal core problem is my hero. Alternatively, I would at least like a way to minimize the core problems by setting certain configuration options, if someone knew which.

I have found an alternate framebuffer option. The "Copy Framebuffer to RDRAM" is intensively slow even with my PC, and I have NVidia GeForce FX 5200, perhaps the best graphics adapter for emulation tying with Radeon adapters. What you can do is set your Full Screen Anti Aliasing option to the second notch (2X) with the framebuffer option enabled. This will reduce the probability of the framebuffer option succeeding, but only minimally compared to the higher FSAA options. The framebuffer option may also not work in full screen mode with this option enabled.

Many instances in many games where framebuffer is needed in order to be successfully emulated will still fail at this option, but this is the most effective framebuffer strength that you can have without a dramatic loss of speed. This will be enough framebuffer to fix one thing I have seen:

When you play Banjo-Kazooie, notice how the jigsaw pieces (Experts at the game say "jiggies".) are black-surfaced when they fill the start screen where you press start to play. This is because they use what the screen looks like as their texture, and this kind of thing needs framebuffer. This weaker framebuffer option will not decrease your FPS at all but will successfully load the jiggies' textures.