How I made the most beautiful N64 Level

[@KazeN64]

Correction at 6:43 - A 4x3 Matrix can do all those 4 transformations, It can do any affine matrix - but the math operations for animated bones now assume that only rotation is going to happen which makes multiplication a little faster.

[@Cliffordlonghead]

First

[@Cliffordlonghead]

Awesome video

[@Readmit]

All Mario 64 mods suck, and yours is no exception. This is just a wannabe Mario Galaxy, and that game sucked too. Enjoy wasting your time and getting nothing in return.

[@nintenboys9303]

Link?

[@TechGuru666]

now do the same for zelda and banjo and paper mario when they get decompiled (both at 97%)

[@ItsCenrryTH]

Kaze is just the final evolution of 90's programmers. He knows how to work around the limitations of the hardware, and thrives because of it.

[@雪鷹魚英語培訓的領航]

Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Kaze's content is what we would get if there were never new consoles to replace the N64. I am constantly reminded of John Carmack's whinging against VR developers having crappy frame rates because they don't do any of the essential optimization engineering. Like a crappy Switch port vs a godly one.

[@jc_dogen]

@@雪鷹魚英語培訓的領航 whinging has a negative connotation though

[@westingtyler1]

put Kaze in a DeLorean and send him to Nintendo in 1995 to make the N64 roster even more boss.

[@GeomancerHT]

Nobody can do magic, outside of the triple restriction: budget, time or features. Professional developers work against that restriction, because the goal is to make money. Creators, on the other hand, can work unlimited time on unlimited features, without worrying about any budget. Not downplaying the job at all, just stating why a game done with infinite time and resources will always be better than one done with a budget and a deadline.

[@jc_dogen]

@@GeomancerHT it won't always be better though. sometimes better decisions are made when you can't do "whatever you want".

[@VideogameFrames]

I always like to imagine time traveling and showing this to the programmers back in the day to blow their minds

[@differentlyabledmuslimjewi4475]

II mean, I'd assume most of them are still alive. I am sure they are impressed assuming they see this.

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

@@differentlyabledmuslimjewi4475 true, but it'd be different with a 1990's mentality. me from back then would be far more impressed than me of today.

[@penguinjay]

mine is me thinking as a kid there will be a mario 64 sequel after the gamecube is already out for years. New N64 games, WTF??? That is my time travel thoughts. IF I could go back in time and tell myself there will be unlimited sequels of my favorite games, all made by loving fans, I would have been really happy to hear that, it would have helped me through dark times even. Knowing this thing is coming is awesome!!! I wanna see it! I wish Kaze would make an official physical release of his magnum opus. I would buy it from him signed for hundreds, but I don't want to pay people who rip the game and put it on a cart, I want an official Kaze release, not everdrive!!! Would be siick. If they did a limited run, that could become one of the most collectible things in gaming history. Would be great if people who know about this project can get a copy and that's it, nobody else, no scalpers.

[@lpfan4491]

@@ThiagoPagogna The game would still run on the tech of back then, because the N64 obviously never changed.

[@MrEthera]

Don't forget, they also had deadlines to meet, so good enough to ship is what they have to go with, even if they could optimize further.

[@thegreatshocka]

It's incredible to see how much optimization you're getting out of Mario 64 by redoing everything. I know basically nothing about programming but even I can tell that the level of knowledge to go this deep is seriously impressive.

[@WeAreMovieMakers]

The advantage of making a modern N64 game is newer tools and less restraints of cartage capacity.

[@cyberspectre8675]

@@WeAreMovieMakers If this doesn't fit on a cartridge, it doesn't run on n64

[@Geert890]

@@cyberspectre8675 The point is you can make bigger cartridges now

[@RAFMnBgaming]

@@cyberspectre8675 Well, the biggest official N64 cart (Resi 2) got up to 64MB, but in theory with bank switching you can go further, and everdrives do. Still, I'd be surprised if a Mario 64 hack takes up as much cartridge space as a Resi 2 worth of FMVs.

[@tobiwonkanogy2975]

@@RAFMnBgaming another engine rewrite... I'm joking of course that's probably a limit of the console . I do know of another console modder soldering a ram chip on top of another one to double the ram. That was original xbox though.

[@Eric-yt7fp]

Imagine doubting Kaze's skill. This is absolutely incredible stuff.

[@garstank]

Your dedication to this project is astounding. I look forward to playing the completed game.

[@ToxikDnB544]

Kaze: There are 4 cap powerups and over 160 stars Nintendo: And a tasty DMCA takedown for your hard work

[@dissonanceparadiddle]

You're legit approaching PS2 levels of visuals on an N64 and you're STILL improving!!🤯

[@Thelango99]

Now imagine what kind of viusals one can achieve on a PS2 given similar effort! We need someone who can do the same for PS2 ratchet and clank.

[@danisflying]

@@Thelango99imagine what people could do on modern hardware with this level of effort 😂

[@damazywlodarczyk]

@@danisflying the newer consoles are borderline inefficient, its because no one codes anymore and optimizes code, everything is done in tools, and it's bios upon os, upon engines, and layers of shit, and the power is wasted translating one type of code into another, we could easily see many times more pretty graphics, if they really tried to unleash the power, but the console makers won't even allow it

[@athos5359]

@@damazywlodarczyk not really,today gpu drivers are almost perfect.

[@athos5359]

@@Thelango99 ratchet and clank was not a ruched out lunchgame like mario64, and sony had very good tools like the performance analayzer.

[@yurifairy2969]

Kaze out here making the Super Mario 65 we all imagined as stupid little kids. This course (and all the cap courses I've seen, really) is stunningly beautiful. Really excited to get my hands on this. Couple questions tho: 1. What exactly are "side courses"? Are they like the secret slide and secret aquarium? 2. How many stars per course?

[@yurifairy2969]

@@lilaa3 thx

[@flipflop_bell]

@@seronymus bruh wha

[@kbhasi]

Your comment reminded me of a weird false memory of mine, of when I misremembered someone shouting as them shouting 'NINTENDO SIXTY-FIVE!!!!!'

[@anotheraccountididntneedto7222]

You really had to call us all stupid, though?

[@yurifairy2969]

@@anotheraccountididntneedto7222 all kids are stupid, they can't help it

[@FireBroRM]

Your level design in terms of gameplay and graphics has improved so much over the years, nothing more to say than only respect for you!

[@superkoopa6423]

I’m looking forward to when Return to Yoshi’s Island gets finished, I’ve played the demo and it was so much fun

[@TheNostalgicFuture]

Once I was old enough to see the difference between mario 64 and majoras mask, I always knew the N64 was never really taken advantage of like the NES/SNES. Glad to see it really wasn't! This is really cool work. subbed.

[@magicjohnson3121]

Perfect Dark, Turrok 3, Conkers Bad Fur Day, Banjo Tooie there plenty of technically impressive n64 games.

[@magicjohnson3121]

Forgot Rocket Robot on Wheels. I think it was 60 FPS with Half Life 2 like physics

[@biobak]

Brilliant™ video kaze although there is a mistake at 5:05, it's actually me making super expensive graphical choices and forcing you to work around them to make them run smooth

[@Luigikid]

Return to Yoshis Island is back on track! Remember streaming the demo a while ago! This just looks amazing! Weiter so Kaze :D

[@SysDataSoftOffical]

luigikid

[@Victor1139]

When I saw your clips of this level that you posted on twitter, I had no doubt in my mind that you out of all people would be able to run this on original hardware with smooth fps, so I was extremely annoyed when I saw all those pedantic comments being like "this is not a real N64 game, it's a pc mod!!"

[@codehex4ever]

You are actually the best romhacker of all the times!

[@b1llygo4t]

This is waaaaay beyond rom hacking.

[@Mobius14]

Beyond Rom hacking. This project is powered by the sm64 decomp project. This would NOT be possible without source code access to completely refactor super mario 64 inside and out.

[@MiniLuigiMighty5]

@@Mobius14 Still, you don't see anyone else doing stuff like this

[@brentt6714]

I'm not a programmer or artist, but I love optimizing processes. It feels amazing to find a way to get a better result and do it more efficiently than what was previously thought possible. Great job on this.

[@MrGamelover23]

Your videos about how you optimize stuff are like crack to me. The fact that you're capable of explaining it to someone who doesn't code is a skill in itself, so you are truly a very talented man. I remember when it was said that last impact would be your final big mod, I'm so happy that's not true. Thank you so much for everything you've done for this game.

[@beefknuckles]

Kaze, have any original n64 programmers ever reached out to you with their thoughts on what you've accomplished? I think it's not a stretch to say you're likely the highest level n64 programmer in the world now and I would imagine some OG coders would be impressed by your work!

[@sirmoonslosthismind]

in fairness, he has access to far better tools than they did back then. even tho he's targeting the same hardware, the difference in their development environments is enormous.

[@zphreaky]

That's quite awesome. I used to be a professional game programmer that did lots of NDS work, it shared some similar rendering details regarding matrices. I rewrote the skeletal animation system to stream in the frames and store them more efficiently.

[@SegaMario]

This man is the Mario 64 hack *MASTER.* Knowing every single nook and cranny that makes the game tick, overcoming whatever limitations necessary to make the game run and look the best it could on real hardware, far better than Nintendo could.

[@jameschick1564]

Also add in memory limitations of the cart format.

[@Youhaveaname]

This is absolutely amazing! I enjoy relistening to your SM64 optimization videos from time to time. Looking forward to a full release!

[@synju]

My mind was blown at 1:34 where you used some simple math to compute the directional light dynamically. That was awesome.

[@sirianrune198]

This really demonstrates how we release hardware way too frequently and don't give software nearly enough time to fully utilize it. This was especially true for consoles in the 90s and early to mid 00s, and even more true for PC hardware.

[@vefrog_art]

Dudes absolutely jacked, programmes and also does art. Absolute super funky dude, i love your videos!

[@JerooMinecraft]

Its unbelievable that this runs on an n64. Congratulations on this incredible achievement

[@bossrosslp]

This is some real "burn the witch" behavior Kaze :3

[@SoyAntonioGaming]

First.

[@SuperTort0ise]

@@SoyAntonioGaming congratulations?

[@SoyAntonioGaming]

@@SuperTort0ise thanks i work hard for it

[@Sanker1]

Even though I can't understand half of the things you say here, I still find this kind of things interesting, this project is amazing

[@PhoticSneezeOne]

You forgot something: You are a programmer, an artist and most importantly a magician!

[@simeonellinger2064]

When programming and art overlap, you get magic.

[@JoSephGD]

my man literally ported modern lighting effects to the n64

[@nikolitilden8224]

I cannot wait anymore, I need to play this! Keep up the great work dude!

[@dr.metroid6119]

It's ridiculous how people don't realize just how powerful the N64 was.

[@Noobsaibot21]

There are some games which truly were optimized for the console (Doom 64 probably being one of the most finely aged N64 games there is) but yeah, I'd imagine most of the library could be substantially improved on the actual console with folks like Kaze sharing his knowledge. And you just know I'll be sticking every optimized game onto my Everdrive.

[@janusmcgee8909]

N64 was weaker than it should’ve been, the ultra 64 had much more powerful prototypes. See the early demos that look amazing.

[@zatchbell5678]

@@Noobsaibot21 pray tell friend, what is an everdrive?

[@Noobsaibot21]

@@zatchbell5678 It's the thing you always dreamed of when you were a kid (A single cart with every game running on an actual N64). SD card full of roms in the cart and you're off to the races. No emulation or anything - the N64 simply sees it as the legitimate game cart. Great as I can safely store my N64 games and still play them the way they were meant to be played. Also versions for SNES, Megadrive, GBA - almost any cartidge based console. There's also CD variants such as DCEmu (Dreamcast), Rhea (Saturn) etc...

[@zatchbell5678]

@@Noobsaibot21 I will be looking into this, thank you

[@larkerpudwig]

Just going through all you videos at the moment. Kaze your work is unmatched, you got me into making my own SM64 rom hacks

[@mme725]

I wish I could see an old N64 dev react to this, or reach out to you. That'd be cool as heck

[@FunkyBlueMonkey3]

I'm curious in general what Nintendo thinks of the skill demonstrated by Kaze.

[@RiverReeves23]

Congrats on getting the sponsor man. Level looks great and the upgrades you've made to the engine are awesome.

[@nathanisbored]

everything came together really nicely here! the aliasing on N64 is very noticable, but my understanding is that anti-aliasing is a big performance hit? if you were to turn it on (im imagining in like an options menu), would the game suddenly dip to 15 fps or something? is it as easy to enable as just switching a flag, or would the rendering engine have to be reworked with it?

[@KazeN64]

AA turns the 40fps sections to around 36 fps here. the 30fps sections mostly stay 30 though sometimes drop to 28ish. this game will come with an option to turn antialiasing on/off. i think it looks better off though.

[@daskampffredchen]

@@therealjones-o6x I think the majority of N64 games are lagging enough already even without AA

[@DarkBowser64]

@@KazeN64 I recall some N64 games have selective Anti-Aliasing, namely some Rare games. For example, they would smooth out only the player and enemy models, and not the world (DK64, and Diddy Kong Racing while in motion, come to mind). Maybe an option for that might be a good middle ground?

[@alainbuschenrieder6024]

@@KazeN64 Glad you cared about allowing AA. I can't stand N64 game without AA, I think it really degrade the look of the games and would rather have the slowdown.

[@seraphina9973]

From an aesthetic perspective I think it's impressive how you've pulled off a night-themed level with the hardware. It's very cute and very clever. Darkness at night should obfuscate details, which is hard to work around, but it's got a real glowing charm to it and the storybook theme you've carried over from Yoshi's Island is adorable.

[@westingtyler1]

I think I've decided that when this comes out I'm going to play it on a real n64 on my old crt tv and order coca cola and pizza and turn off the internet and maybe invite a friend over. could be fun. if someone a Nintendo Power player's guide or magazine article existed about it giving tips, it'd be a legit 90s new mario 64 sequel experience.

[@KazeN64]

if you are lucky, ill be able to put in a multiplayer mode too, so that'd be pretty fun!

[@westingtyler1]

@@KazeN64 that'd be amazing. Luigi making a comeback? horizontal or vertical split screen? would probably run pretty good considering the optimizations.

[@MAKEITLOOKEASYYY]

you are out of your mind, sir. insane job, cant wait to run this.

[@RiposteBK]

Stunningly impressive man, amazing work 👌👌

[@LowPoly64]

What the hell do you have against birds. Poor Seagulls.

[@pakrett2658]

I can't believe it you're so brilliant and dedicated

[@enthusiasticgamer88]

I cannot wait for Return to Yoshi's Island and the optimized vanilla game. 50-60 FPS on real hardware is nuts. Do you think it is feasible to actually get the vanilla game to 60 fps stable or only 30? I'm just curious as it seems like you'd be dealing with less overhead than the complex and beautiful levels for RtYI. I imagine a future where SM64 speedrunning starts a new category for a Kaze optimized version that's able to provide a stable 60 fps on console. I have to think that would become a really popular category to run if that was ever possible to create. Either way I'm amped and love your work Kaze!

[@BlazeHeartPanther]

You ever thought about making an indie game in the same style as N64 graphics? I think you'd be pretty good at it, like Siactro's games Toree, MacBat, or his most recent game Super Kiwi 64

[@DMMDestroyer]

Truly looking forward to when this is finished as it's incredible. Each update is something of art. Thanks for all you have done over the years.

[@b00marrows]

Wait?? isnt this the first time you have been sponsored? If so thats amazing! congrats!

[@KazeN64]

i've had offers before, but this is the first time i've accepted an offer! i won't collaborate with any sponsors that i don't personally like.

[@b00marrows]

@@KazeN64 A good stance and power to you for it.

[@FunkyBlueMonkey3]

@@KazeN64 has Nintendo ever contacted you?

[@Gemquist]

Another amazing technical achievement and breakdown. Thanks again for sharing this journey with all of us! It's like getting a second chance to relive the magic of the N64 era.

[@Male_Parent]

Man Kaze is literally bringing 16 times the detail lol.

[@BelowAverageGaming]

I love how knowledgeable you are, I didn't have the time to sit and watch since I'm at work so I just listened to all the details like a podcast lol Keep it the awesome work!

[@Skelterbane69]

Imagine competitive speedrunning events, around these mods

[@WillowEpp]

I love how you just dropped an "oh, btw, I got another 20% perf improvement" in here without elaborating.

[@riolubruh]

Kaze is too damn good, he has to be stopped. He's making N64 games look as good, if not better, than some GameCube games. This German man is to be feared.

[@jamiewebber7485]

This is absolutely fantastic! I didn’t know such beautiful, complex levels would have been able to run this well on an N64.

[@reidfitzhugh4539]

Every time you post, Im just blown away by how ridiculously advanced this stuff is. You are an absolute genius, I cant wait for this game!!

[@Otasan0815]

If Nintendo you'll just hire guys like you instead of sueing them, we would have another golden era of Video games Great Work Kaze!

[@TheCoolDave]

AMAZING work, completely blown away by what you have done. Truly an artist. Thank you for showing and would love to play it once it's complete.

[@Red_cannibal]

this is a rom hack of german quality

[@bradenspendlove3869]

gosh damnit kaze. you are over here releasing videos once in a blue moon to titalate me and its just so hard (pun intended) to wait.

[@PadensPixels]

Am I the only one who's getting some Sonic Adventure vibes from this level design?

[@ChevyTheCat]

I love the indepth explanation you give for everything. A normal modder would just of let the game run as is, but you spent the extra time to keep an consistent, high, fps.

[@helloish12321]

modern games take 150gb and use 99% of a modern 4 core cpu. The devs feel overworked and underpaid. This guy has rewritten an entire game just to make his own rom hack look as good as it can. Fueled by passion alone. Great work.

[@ChristopherTanner-x2w]

@Kaze. When do you think this will be ready for everyone to download please? Absolutely mind blowing 🤯levels of impressive on display, your skill is astounding, your understanding and ability to manipulate the source code is quite the spectacle, keep it up, and thanks for all that you do and give to the community to experience Kaze 👍

[@e-mananimates2274]

It's uncommon to see a combination of an artist and a programmer.I'm glad you are doing magical things with this game engine!

[@InfiniteBits]

Yooo this looks really cool dude, even the music sound like Mario 64!

[@waleswideman1]

Please make this multiplayer

[@Nicklefritz]

Yup. You're the kind of gentleman I'd be thrilled to converse with over coffee. I am just stunned by your talent and knowledge base here!

[@sedrosken831]

If anyone could pull it off, it'd be you. I hear about something "impossible" happening, then hear your name attached to it and it all clicks into place and makes sense. I can't wait to see the finished game!

[@ale.salas.m]

Holy crap!! This is amazing. I'm looking forward to downloading. Major kudos for all your efforts!

[@mr.condekua6141]

you are the best! The 60 fps is nigh :)

[@anandchundi6805]

I just want to say you are incredible Kaze. You love this game and figured out how it works so you could make new games for people who love mario 64. What an amazing time to be alive

[@hakimehamdouchi7468]

So when will you look into rtx on n64 ?

[@KazeN64]

dariosamo is working on an RTX plugin that would emulate every N64 game with raytracing capabilities!! i plan to make this compatible with it as well.

[@teomanefe]

@@KazeN64 holy

[@Cliffordlonghead]

@@KazeN64 hi

[@Cliffordlonghead]

@@teomanefe CRIMINAL

[@Blastkin]

Imagine actually welding an rtx to an actual n64, that would be so cool

[@ILostMyOreos]

This is so amazing. This is art, this is discovering how the universe of circuits and software works, what it can do, hour far it can be pushed. It's beautiful. Thank you for sharing your work.

[@mintmag8748]

Stuff like this makes we want to get into programing. Imagine what they'll do with goldeneye.

[@chriswaller8780]

Sore subject. Multiple goldeneye projects have popped up and died out. It's cursed.

[@mintmag8748]

@@chriswaller8780 That might be true, Goldeneye's physics system is oddly programmed. I would like to know how it's made.

[@alainbuschenrieder6024]

Things are on the work regarding Goldeneye and Perfect Dark engine. Don't worry. But be patient lol.

[@mintmag8748]

@@alainbuschenrieder6024 But I want to see and understand Goldeneye's code.

[@speedyink]

I can't wait until you release this game mod! It's one of those mods that I'm willing to pay for, as you clearly know what you're doing, you're explaining how you're doing it along the way, and you're focusing on real hardware performance. Very impressed by how you've managed to stretch the limits of the N64 and Mario 64's code!

[@Hack3r91]

Yo Kaze, have you been exploiting any advanced matrix multiplication algorithm in your engine? Sorry if you already went over it I just can't remember...

[@KazeN64]

what is that?

[@David-bh7hs]

@@KazeN64 have you taken linear algebra?

[@KazeN64]

@@David-bh7hs yeah i finished all the courses for a math degree in university

[@David-bh7hs]

@@KazeN64 he's probably talking about the Strassen algorithm, but I don't see how it's applicable to your work.

[@David-bh7hs]

@@KazeN64 I don't know what math the software is doing, but if you know that one row or column is static, if there are any patterns that emerge, it might be possible to optimize the matrix multiplication. You would need to be really good at math to do this.

[@bbloomfield6497]

I have zero interest in programming, yet found all the problem solving and optimisation you discussed truly fascinating. This is exactly the kind of game I'd get an Everdrive for.

[@kirbeast46]

This guy is a skilled programmer, artist, and kills it in the gym. I feel like having all 3 traits isn’t physically possible 😂

[@Red_cannibal]

Kaze has an artist Wife.

[@Fergotronics]

Ooh can't wait to play return to Yoshi's island when it comes out on my Odin, been really impressed with some of the romhacks I have played so far. So cool how you are giving new life to sm64, game is truly a classic and it still holds up so well.

[@xXball_smasherXx]

this will be mario 64 in 2023 KZbin says the game is Pepper Mario LOL XD

[@mayosunshine]

so true

[@justinwhite3220]

Amazing, great job. I’m pumped for the finished product

[@jojodi]

I really wish we could teleport you back to the mid nineties into Nintendo HQ. I'm just imagining the Mario 64 dev team programmers, all in crunch mode, listening to you through a translator about how to make all this shit super-optimized and all the devs are just in awe.

[@CATASTEROID934]

I don't think it's quite that simple, the hobbyist working environment affords freedoms that aren't present in the context of the professional environment; having your programming and art staff be the same single person allows you to do things having to communicate between people makes difficult. Being able to choose what hour to throw yourself into bed also helps a ton too ha ha

[@juice6199]

Looks like some kind of Twilight Dreamworld, I love it.

[@arzfan29]

Imagine if kaze moved to mario sunshine and completely redid that game to make it actually playable and push the engine

[@superbn0va]

Man i love to play new games with this style of gfx and gameplay!

[@RoxgerBR]

You are an incredible boy, you are a source of great pride for me, and I think I speak for everyone when I say this, because you make a whole giant community around the world proud with your ability to overcome yourself, congratulations, and a big kiss 😘 in your heart 🎊

[@megamattx6408]

N64 has been getting a lot of love lately, glad to see it.

[@BSG1991]

This amazing n64 really was ahead of its time

[@boundlessaether392]

Tits?

[@someonecalledrichardthehuman]

I can see your artstyle improved!

[@bes03c]

I am amazed at how simply Kaze explains mathematical optimizations.

[@Crit-Chance]

The fact that Return to Yoshi's Island and Zera: Myths Awaken are things that exist and are coming is so heartwarming to me. I really look forward to seeing these projects come out for all to enjoy. It'll be wonderful! Thank you so much for all your (no doubt excruciatingly) hard work.

[@tonkobanjo]

no fucking way this has gotta be an early april fools joke like this is TOO GOOD

[@jairoruiz9709]

When you drop a rom cartridge for n64 the way the gameboy rom creators drop rom cartridges for old games i might shit myself.

[@MrK-]

I knew you were making something bigger when I saw you making that tree on your stream. Absolutely bonkers.

[@MasaKaneshiro]

We're sending Kaze back in time to Nintendo of Japan's dev team during N64's development.

[@xugo91]

Dude is doing mario 64 quantum physic You're insane in a good way

[@LoggyDev]

Kaze... What the hell? Your programming skills are out of this world, crazy respect bro.

[@xRockLobster75x]

You inspire me to do better with combining my engineering skills and affinity for artistic expression. Thank you.

[@sastiago11]

so f*king cozy, it's just pleasant to see this level man, great job

[@ChrisEvans66]

This looked really good! Great job!

[@BloodWraith777]

Kaze's not gonna stop optimizing Mario 64 until he gets Crysis to run on an unmodified N64 at at least 2 FPS. That doesn't even make any sense.