This codec would have been great 27 years ago! I suspect it wouldn't have gotten past the patent lawyers in 1999 though. It seems cute today but the entire codec space was a patent minefield, the N64 mp3 decoder was implemented twice (once based on the reference codec, once clean) with Nintendo/Rare then paying RAD game tools to license their decoder... of which none of their code was used but they had a license from the mp3 patent holder (Fraunhofer) which then shielded Nintendo from lawsuits. Fraunhofer wanted something like $250k to license directly which wasn't going to fly.
I'll also note the frame rate issues in Conker were mainly down to raw RDP fillrate issues, which was for sure the weakest part of the N64 hardware, it could draw beautiful triangles (for the time) but oh so so slowly. There was a decent amount of speech during gameplay using the RSP mp3 codec. The cartridge size was still an issue, 64Mb got a good amount of mono speech but was still very much at a premium.
At this point, they're coming out faster than I can play them. I'm in the middle of the 2nd Episode of Duke 3D right now and it's quite nice. The original 64 version was always fun, but mid-level saves are really a game changer.
This codec would have been great 27 years ago! I suspect it wouldn't have gotten past the patent lawyers in 1999 though. It seems cute today but the entire codec space was a patent minefield, the N64 mp3 decoder was implemented twice (once based on the reference codec, once clean) with Nintendo/Rare then paying RAD game tools to license their decoder... of which none of their code was used but they had a license from the mp3 patent holder (Fraunhofer) which then shielded Nintendo from lawsuits. Fraunhofer wanted something like $250k to license directly which wasn't going to fly.
I'll also note the frame rate issues in Conker were mainly down to raw RDP fillrate issues, which was for sure the weakest part of the N64 hardware, it could draw beautiful triangles (for the time) but oh so so slowly. There was a decent amount of speech during gameplay using the RSP mp3 codec. The cartridge size was still an issue, 64Mb got a good amount of mono speech but was still very much at a premium.
[delayed]
Sorry but what? Half-Life on an N64?? it looks incredible!
There's an explosion of N64 ports lately, with a huge mix of new libraries (libdragon) pure fan passion, and LLM assistance.
Some I'm tracking:
- Duke Nukem 3D (ie, the fully-functional PC version) https://github.com/BigChat88/N64DukeNukem3DPort
- Portal 64 Still alive https://github.com/mwpenny/portal64-still-alive
- Resident Evil 64 (ie, not RE2, but the first one) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xRiwy8Z6S0
- Silent Hill (still an early WIP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7fM06jmHso
(haven't personally tested, but these look interesting:
- Simpsons Arcade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH9JYQVzKDE
- X-men Arcade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah3nB8MP4CM
- TMNT Arcade Collection https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiR5-ZpLtyI
At this point, they're coming out faster than I can play them. I'm in the middle of the 2nd Episode of Duke 3D right now and it's quite nice. The original 64 version was always fun, but mid-level saves are really a game changer.