Many N64 games have a "blurry" look to them, due to the way Nintendo designed the console. Luckily, people
have discovered ways to remove some of the filters using both hardware and software. This page is a
culmination of work done by many different people in the retro gaming community; I'm not trying to take
credit for any of these amazing finds, I just wanted to archive it all in one place. The picture below is a
result of their work and the improvements that can be made in these games (click the picture for a full-sized
view). Also, see the video next to it from My Life In Gaming that does an excellent job explaining
everything!
Introduction:
Describing how the N64 gets its "blur" is a bit complicated and involves both hardware and software, but I'll try
to simplify the explanation as best as I can. First, there's basic anti-aliasing, which "smooths" the image. In the
game Quake, developers actually added an option to disable this filter in the video options, where its simply
called "filter". The fact that the option exists at all led game hackers to figure out how exactly to turn that
software filter off using gameshark codes (or patched roms).
The N64 hardware itself ads a horizontal blur feature that also softens the image, which is completely different
from the blur discussed above. The UltraHDMI kit has a feature to remove this filter and there are talks of a hardware add-on to remove this from RGB-output as well. I'll add more
information on the RGB add-on as it becomes available, but for now, the only way to perform a hardware de-blur
is via the UltraHDMI.
Remove filters with software:
People on the Assemblergames forum have found a way to use Gameshark codes to turn off anti-aliasing in a
similar manner to the way Quake does it. These codes can be implemented on original cartridges by using a
Gameshark, however newer versions of the Gameshark are required (you can upgrade old versions with this method). If you own a ROM cart, you can download patches from Poregon's website and either use software such as
Lunar IPS to patch the rom, or use your romcart's software to toggle them on or off
before starting a game. This is much easier then manually entering each code and very convenient.
These patches are also available in Smokemonster's rompacks: http://n64.poregon.com/shared/
Here's a document that's constantly being updated with confirmed working GameShark codes:
Techincal Information:
Here's some links to more techincal information about how these blur filters work and how to discover patches
yourself. Please let me know if I should include anything else:
saturnu sent this tutorial for gscc, which I think is the software the Game Shark people use to find the temp
framebuffer readouts of the VI-Register values, that are rewritten. His post on Assemblergames describes the
VI-Register but is missing how to find these values in in the rdram memory: http://doc.kodewerx.org/hacking_n64.html#using_gs_gscc
Conclusion: These patches are something every N64 fan should try; Not everyone will prefer
them to the original look, but I think everyone will agree it was worth trying!
