Consoles and Emulators: Project 64

This article covers how to run DK64 Randomizer on project 64, a popular N64 emulator for Windows.

Supported

Project 64 3.0 introduced several changes that fixed several problems with DK64 emulation that older versions had. By default, Project 64 should detect that Donkey Kong 64 is the game being played when a DK64 Randomizer ROM is loaded. However, there are still adjustments that need to be made to make it fully playable with DK64 Randomizer.

Walkthrough Video

1. Go to Options -> Configurations to access the settings menu.
2. Uncheck "Pause emulation when window is not active" and uncheck "Hide advanced settings."
3. Click "Plugins." Ensure "GLideN64" is the selected video plugin.
4. Close Project64.
5. Navigate to the Project64 3.0 directory on your computer (usually in the C drive in the Program Files x86 folder). Go to the Config directory and open Project64.rdb in the RDB Editor Webpage. Save the output file as Project64.rdb. Once you downloaded the new version of the file, delete the old one in the PJ64 directory before placing the downloaded file here.

For transparency purposes, the editor adds the following text to the bottom of the file and saves it to the right format:

[DONKEY KONG 64-C:45]
Alt Identifier=69696969-69696969-C:45
RDRAM Size=8

[69696969-69696969-C:45]
Internal Name=DONKEY KONG 64
Status=Compatible
Counter Factor=1
Culling=1
Emulate Clear=1
Primary Frame Buffer=1
Save Type=16kbit Eeprom
Linking=Off

Unsupported

Project64 versions before 3.0

Old versions of PJ64 have game breaking bugs such as random void outs and warping across the map, and so are therefore unsupported

Project64 version 4.0

Project64 4.0 is currently in development and therefore unsupported for the most part. The only thing it's supported for is Crowd Control usage with a very specific nightly release. More information on this can be found on the Crowd Control page.

Troubleshooting

Jittery Camera

Make sure Emulate frame buffer is on in Options > Graphics Settings > Frame buffer

Getting a fatal error or some form of other error upon booting ROM

This is most likely a symptom of Project64.rdb being incorrectly set up. I would advise re-performing those steps, ensuring that you are overwriting the existing Project64.rdb file located in the config folder, and that your file is named EXACTLY Project64.rdb

I'm getting an emulator setup error on the main menu

This is a symptom of an incorrectly set up emulator, generally Project64.rdb not being created correctly. See "Getting a fatal error or some form of other error upon booting ROM" above.

My kong's eyes are gone

Visit Options > Graphics Settings > Emulation, and then uncheck Enable N64-style mip-mapping

Severe lag whilst taking warps/talking to B. Lockers

Visit Options > Graphical Settings > Texture enhancement, and then ensure Filter is set to None and Enhancement is set to None.