How we BEAT the Limitations that defined the N64s Artstyle

[@3lH4ck3rC0mf0r7]

"Buh mah texture cache memory-" Kaze: _S K I L L I S S U E ._

[@TheGreatFury]

Kaze: "I missed the part where that's my problem."

[@John_Lee_]

Skill and TIME. The latter is something engineers don't have when trying to bring something profitable and feasible to the market in time and on budget.

[@LenaYoutube]

What skill? He didn't do shit. Mario is a nintendo project, the design was made by nintendi, the tools wasn't made by him, the techniques he used aren't his and he's blindly parroting someone else. He has no passion and no desire to do thing by himself. It's like ordering at a restaurant and pretending you're a chef, it doesn't work this way. Typical youtuber attentionwhoring.

[@KaidenLewis-wy4hd]

What are you even talking about? He literally said in the video that they couldn't possibly have done all this at the time. Why do you feel the need to put words into his mouth? Why do you feel the need to make Kaze sound like a jerk? Why do you feel the need to defame the staff of Nintendo that were visionaries at the time? But who am I even talking to... You're just some meme brainers who memed their last brain cells away a long time ago and now are unable to form any kind of original thought without adhering to some sort of meme format. See, I wouldn't care if you'd just kept your garbage to yourselves in your discord servers and subreddits or whatever, but I have a problem with it once you start entering the "real world" and spread misinformation and cause trouble to other people with it. Like for example in this case you are implying that Kaze is disrespectful and wants to start beef with Nintendo. Can you imagine what kind of trouble this could create down the line if this type of rumor was spread and attached to Kaze's reputation? No, you don't... because you're incapable of thinking. "It's just a meme, bro!"

[@lucdubois3927]

*techtures

[@jamescampbell6728]

It's so interesting to see how art is defined by not just necessary limitations, but UNNECESSARY limitations. Awesome video!!! (as usual)

[@user-vi4xy1jw7e]

I love unnecessary limitations

[@terroriz0r]

so that makes kaze's new artstyle the true definitive N64 artstyle!

[@dougr8646]

No, no it doesn't

[@jamescampbell6728]

@@dougr8646 true

[@somnia3423]

What? ​@@dougr8646

[@douglasmurphy3266]

Mario 64 had one genius workaround to all of this (except the texture cache): The title screen. High poly, dynamic lighting, pliable vertice Mario greets you and lets you fool around with it, and that visual is imprinted into your brain. That first impression, especially in 1996, carries over into the actual game to where you aren't even seeing Mario's cut down geometry, your brain is drawing high poly Mario onto everything.

[@arkadyshersky8704]

Vertex.

[@gamesandplanes3984]

Nintendo: style over substance

[@chocov1233]

​@@gamesandplanes3984Sounds more like Sega.

[@ExtremeWreck]

@@chocov1233 Nah that's the Atari Lynx

[@connorhayes2711]

Genius observation! I never thought about that before but it’s so true

[@wile123456]

Can't wait for Kaze to be 80 years old and explaining how you squeeze every drop of performance out of the PS3 or Nintendo wii

[@JerrySM64]

Nah even then he will try to squeeze even more performance out of the N64 with the brand new microcode F3DEX15

[@wpgamingvids7558]

Real time raytracing 4090 performance on N64 😂

[@tacokoneko]

i hope that one day he contributes to MIPS target of Linux kernel

[@tacokoneko]

there is Linux for N64 and yes it is 64 bit and the full multitasking kernel because N64 has an MMU but it is scuffed and barely able to load filling the entire N64 memory just to boot because it's mostly a generic build for MIPS CPU with a super minimal framebuffer console and osk thrown together. i am certain that kaze could easily comment out tons of generic code that isn't needed for the N64 and make a little more room in RAM to do something

[@i-am-linja]

@@tacokoneko Serious question: if such extensive gutting is required, why would you even want to run Linux there? And if there is a build that can run acceptably, could that build still be called "Linux"? It might be about as much effort to write a POSIX-compliant OS with some GNU idiosyncrasies from scratch as it would be to jam one specific OS onto a system that isn't up to running it.

[@SproingBoing]

With the amount of optimizations you've done for your mod alone it honestly looks like an early Gamecube prototype circa Spaceworld 1997, kudos to your talent in transforming the N64 into the Ultra 64

[@aclstudios]

There were Gamecube protos that early??

[@SproingBoing]

@@aclstudios Technically. iirc It was more of a tech demo for Super Mario 128 to show off the shiny new graphics and how cluttered the screen could get without the system catching fire edit: It was a tech demo for the N64DD that was later reused *_for_* the Gamecube demo, which was why my brain got it confused and thought 1997. Still a pretty neat showcase imo

[@clouds-rb9xt]

@@SproingBoingI'm pretty sure only the name was reused

[@keaton718]

Kaze could have been a lead developer at Rare back in the day. And with what he managed to pull out of the N64, and presumably he could work similar magic on the Gamecube, maybe Nintendo would have bought Rare just to keep him. Like he would be the icing on the cake on top of the Rare IP that would have made the difference.

[@costelinha1867]

I don't even want to imagine what will happen if someone give this fucker an N64 DD with some way to load games from an sd card.

[@chlorobyte_projects]

Imagine if Kaze had a Gamecube. He would become unstoppable.

[@MLWJ1993]

Makes you wonder how much potential a GameCube truly has. Although, the small discs may actually prove to be more of a bottleneck than the actual hardware when it comes to the GameCube.

[@mrlightwriter]

@@MLWJ1993 Well , the discs hold 1,46GB; I think that's quite a jump from the N64 cartridges...

[@xdanic3]

@@mrlightwriter Yeah 1,46Gb is quite a lot and there are methods to compress PNG textures like Zopfli or quantization (indexed 256 color mode, which is more than enough for stilized textures), not sure if that's what the textures are encoded to, maybe that's right for the gamecube, but the N64 might be using raw bitmaps

[@Slvl710]

might as well use a wii instead, its really not that big of a jump from the gamecube, nintendo just actually used normal cd's

[@xdanic3]

@@Slvl710 In fact the Wii was just an overclocked Gamecube with more/faster memory.

[@ares395]

I'd imagine having programming on N64 in your resume with your age bracket must turn some heads

[@colonthree]

I hire for that. :3c

[@crakhaed]

​@@colonthree love the complete consistency in your username, profile pic, and comment 😂

[@fungo6631]

That won't help him out unless he's some sort of minority. Modern tech hiring is more about diversity and non skill marketability as is apparent with the sheer unoptimized bloating of the web and people soyfacing in disbelief when someone makes an actual game run at almost 5 digit FPS in 4K thanks to how fast modern computers are.

[@Ultimaximus]

@@fungo6631 What are you talking about? Whites & Asians are 68-78% of the US population, but make up 82% of tech jobs, while hispanics and blacks similarly have less percentage in tech compared to the overall population

[@aliatef7203]

sounds like an excuse to me, hiring tech workers of all people based on diversity first and not skill makes zero business sense@@fungo6631

[@HyJyncks]

"30 years of hindsight and no hard deadlines" That's how, to answer the jeopardy question title.

[@xGMV]

I'm using DeArrow and instead I had the "Explaining the "N64 art style" and how to push its limitations with optimization" title.

[@phill6859]

Also, try using a PC from 30 years ago

[@OhKayEl]

Hmm, not necessarily. Like Kaze said in one of his videos, there were a lot of mistakes in the Mario source code that were just straight dumb and could be easily fixed even back in the day.

[@titanic_monarch796]

​@@OhKayEl...those are pretty much exactly the things that hindsight and deadlines affect

[@OhKayEl]

@@titanic_monarch796 No, it's affected by not being FUCKING STUPID.

[@legoboy7107]

I like how, even though you have all the technical advancements to leave the N64 artstyle behind in this and give Mario a more modern-looking design, you're still giving Mario's new model his N64 look design-wise.

[@soviut303]

The "sausage links" limbs was even an issue for animators for TV. Early 3D shows like Reboot and Beast Wars had to contend with disconnected limbs because they were often using NURBs surfaces and didn't have the skills to patch them all together to make a single surface.

[@grahamcookson5937]

I'm very happy to see a Reboot reference in 2024.

[@Valery0p5]

​@@grahamcookson5937 that isn't the OSP channel

[@The5lacker]

"I 3D Modeled in the hex editor" Jesus H. Christ.

[@kyle5210]

Actual Matrix vision

[@RusticRonnie]

Used to be standard

[@LokiScarletWasHere]

On a motorbike, even

[@videojuegos9379]

@@RusticRonnie no lol

[@supra107]

If you know how to look into the architecture of N64 to fully harness it's power, you know how to code in Assembly, and you sure as hell know how to model in pure hex code.

[@sonikku997]

I understand almost none of this and yet I still find these videos incredibly fascinating.

[@PaperBanjo64]

I just know when I see footage of games he's made that he's pushing the Nintendo 64 beyond its limits and it appears to run smoothly, something Rare couldn't do after 1998.

[@JohnLennonisMe]

​@@PaperBanjo64i think it is such a waste of time, yoshi dude could be making his own games and charge money but instead takes the easy way and just learns how to maximize an old console

[@PaperBanjo64]

@@JohnLennonisMe he definitely could be an indie dev, maybe he will eventually make his own games.

[@JohnLennonisMe]

@@PaperBanjo64 that would be awesome, sadly most people once they find their obsession it is hard to let go.

[@lyricjam39]

In simple words, stay away from matrices unless you are a math enthusiast, that subject can break your mind.

[@henrique_best686]

The footage in the background is SO GOOD, I cannot wait to see the final result, you are basically the n64 magician.

[@alvallac2171]

*The footage *GOOD. I *result. You *basically *magician.

[@henrique_best686]

@@alvallac2171 The disrespect.☕

[@carnage0685]

It’s crazy because Rare did a lot of what he’s doing, and over 25 years ago, too. He’s basically Rare-ifying a new Super Mario 64 game.

[@dawk7]

"I'm saying everybody else was wrong- crucify me!" ...I don't know, chief, by this point you might as well be "The Guy Who Has Tweaked The N64 To Its Limits", I'll believe you.

[@CaptainReynolds-flyinspace]

This double texture trick was used all over the place in first Max Payne. they use small tiled textures resemble surface of the fabric, concrete wall and wood. And it works good by imitating high resolution details that textures not have. its remind me how film grain can give a look of more sharpen and detailed picture for low resolution.

[@YannickJur]

It's insane how modders find more capability in the N64 DECADES later. Most devs at Nintendo probably never found out about this!

[@kakyoindonut3213]

they probably would, if only they had time to, I mean after n64 their job force them to jump to the next, better hardware console that is gamecube

[@mikejameson7678]

Apart from what was said above, it's unlikely that enough, if any N64 developers still exist at Nintendo.

[@kakyoindonut3213]

@@mikejameson7678 we can check the quality of the switch expansion pack of n64 to see if they're still exist

[@jc_dogen]

did you watch the video lol

[@borisyeltsin6606]

​@@jc_dogen 130 likes and you're the first person to point out the original comment we're replying to doesn't make any sense. cRAZY How moST DeVs NEveR FouND OUT aBoUt tHiS... As if there's some hidden trick or unlocked discovery. The was a series of niche optimizations, in part modeled off of optimizations that naturally evolved in subsequent hardware generations as the videogame programming industry developed alongside it. In short, he didn't watch or understand the video lol

[@ArchLars]

Honestly I would love for Kaze to make an original game after this with everything he learned these years working on the N64 and the mods for it ! We are in dire need of good 3d platformers in general these days.

[@sneauxday7002]

He could be the one to finish quest64..

[@craftymulligar]

He could do crash bandicoot game.

[@AnonyDave]

I would argue a lot of the art being done at a lower polygon count than they could've got away with was also because of the tools of the time. Often people forget just how much things like that have changed in 20-30 years

[@crestofhonor2349]

Yup. People forget how much worse tools were then to even do a lot of this stuff. Today's tools are much better

[@MarsPriest]

What tools?

[@SmileyBMM]

​@@MarsPriestall of the software needed to make a game, from modeling software all the way to the operating system itself. All of it was harder to use back then compared to today.

[@MarsPriest]

@@SmileyBMM Sure, but I WANT NAMES!!! ⚡

[@SmileyBMM]

@@MarsPriest N-World is apparently what they used for 3d modeling it seems. Look at that vs what people use today.

[@iownu92]

I have a great appreciation for how much you are able to squeeze out of the N64. Reminds me of what Andy Gavin was able to accomplish with the Crash Bandicoot games by essentially hacking the PS1.

[@theblah12]

It’s a shame there isn’t a large homebrew community for the PS1 like there is for the N64. What devs were able to do with the hardware back in the 90’s and early 2000’s was astounding.

[@fungo6631]

​@@theblah12The PS1 is a pretty simple and primitive platform.

[@1234_Flux]

The rom hack footage is the upcoming "Return to Yoshi's Island" by Kaze and the level is Ghoul Guy Galleon.

[@phrozenliquidz]

Has he been working on this same mod for years, or has he released multiple mods now?

[@1234_Flux]

@@phrozenliquidz Kaze has released a ton of mods for Mario 64. He's one of the best modders around.

[@cm1guy]

Wish there was a more in-depth explanation of the SGI's skeletal animation trick, this thing sounds genius enough for its time. Great vid as always

[@tetsuo3k]

Agreed. I'd love to hear more details on this, although I'm unsure how much of it I would comprehend.

[@mesmesd]

Dude, that net in the beginning was amazing

[@LInksaKk]

I have seen that there are several new games that try to look like an N64 game but end up looking like a PS1 game, with videos like these it could help them to have a more N64 like style

[@CrAzYpotpie]

You would have to try harder to make a game look like a PS1 game than an N64 one, so your comment perplexes me.

[@whaecK]

With modern tools?, you only have to downscale texture and graphics to make it look like a ps1 game, n64 has a distinctive look tho? Dunno, who cares😂

[@CrAzYpotpie]

@@whaecK That isn't true at all, that would not give you the signature PS1 polygon warping, that is why I said it would be more deliberate work to make it look like PS1 than N64.

[@tinoesroho]

@@CrAzYpotpie there are like a dozen drop-in ready unity plugins that psx-ify vertices, polygon warping, and textures

[@CrAzYpotpie]

@@tinoesroho I know that, which doesnt make sense with what the OP is saying. You would have to purposely do that to achieve a PS1 look. So why would people making games they want to look like N64 games use a PS1 shader?

[@gaeel330]

I appreciate what you said about it being cheaper and easier to halve the polycount and not have to rely on squeezing every last bit of performance out of the machine. Mario 64 was developed in under two years (with seven programmers), as one of the launch titles. They didn't have the experience and knowledge we have today, and they had a very strict deadline they had to meet. There's no room for error, playing things safe and making sure you're able to ship a fun game on time is more important than high polycounts and detailed textures! That said, I love seeing what you're able to do with this hardware. The modding community gives us a peek into an alternate timeline where consoles continue to get games for 27 years! It's amazing how far you're all able to push this machine! James Lambert's "megatextures" demo blew me away when I first saw it, and your Mario mod looks amazing! Keep up the good work, and thanks for all of your deep dives into the nitty gritty of the N64's inner workings!

[@CornRecords972]

It looks like a gamecube game running on an n64. Like an ungodly interim console from an alternate universe. That's awesome.

[@fluffycritter]

I'd always assumed that the Bowser-Peach texture fade effect was done by abusing the MIPmapping and trilinear filtering, rather than being two separately-controlled textures. Neat!

[@Medachod]

I also enjoyed that it was the only true 3D of its generation. It is always nice seeing it look perfectly rendered and not wobbly.

[@xtr.7662]

Yes it was the most powerful by raw power polygon coubt wise but ps1 games often looked better because of the significantly better textures

[@thesenamesaretaken]

​@@xtr.7662eh, you pick your poison. Is it models that vibrate but have higher resolution textures (but they warp when the model moves) or textures that are a smear of colour on models that are stable? And then there's me, who had a Saturn.

[@mrlightwriter]

@@thesenamesaretaken You too had a Saturn? It may have flopped, but I loved every minute I played of Virtua Fighter and Sega Rally!

[@HawkBreland]

you're such a chad, Kaze. awesome to see how much you and your channel has grown over the years and I couldn't be more happy for ya. keep on keeping on brother!

[@Quartis]

I love optimizations and seeing how far you can push the art. These videos are so interesting.

[@elweegee3575]

Whenever I see the current state of Return to Yoshi's Island it just makes me want to play it and it looks amazing, it seems as if SM64 came out for CameCube instead of N64.

[@halyoalex8942]

Super Mario Cube

[@cdeardorff8685]

Kaze in 2030: I managed to recreate RTX shaders on a real N64!

[@WilliamAncich]

0:00 Introduction 1:11 Blurry Textures 5:34 Low Poly 8:01 Lighting 11:38 Limbs 15:58 Conclusion

[@Stormkyleis]

You are absolutely NUTS for modelling in a hex editor. I can't wait for Return to Yoshi's Island!

[@bloxrocks5179]

Kaze im genuinely concerned about how deep in the N64 rabbit hole you are

[@nat_the_gray]

One thing you seem to forget is that the original programmers were developing the game as a job, whereas you are doing it as a hobby. When you do something as a hobby it makes sense to pour everything into it. However, when you're doing something as a job you have to meet deadlines.

[@KazeN64]

im not sure about that - i also have a fulltime job as a programmer for a video game and i feel similarly passionate about that work.

[@MewEcks]

@@KazeN64 It should also be added that even though by today's standards, the N64 had a quite short lifetime, some developers (well, Rare, at the very least) sank their heart and soul into their games without worrying too much about deadlines as is evident by the fact that games like Conker got completely reimagined. Considering they released a bunch of games over the course of ~5 years with a fraction of the knowledge pooling that is happening today (and in hindsight, no less) with only a handful of people, the results are an amazing feat and testament to their skills. I recommend watching the Conker dev commentary videos found on KZbin somewhere as it shines a light into the Rare N64 development days. It's also full of nice anecdotes along the lines of "I think we had like two meetings in total when working on the game".

[@ExtremeWreck]

This comment is also a good reason on why the N64 had some garbage shovelware like Superman 64 & Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

[@ryanclemons1]

Ironically deadlines kill games we need to get rid of them.

[@fungo6631]

​@@ExtremeWreckSuperman 64 was as it was because of the publisher tards.

[@tigrineTerror]

one of my favorite things about the N64 is that you can obviously tell which games were developed by rareware. rareware game enemies have a distinct look to me

[@anzhel3268]

the ship at the end looks cool

[@ragnarrandom7367]

i love listening to your n64 tech breakdowns i dont understand any of it but i still feel smarter

[@Tashiro64]

The N64 really was an impressive console. Devs just didnt know everything about it. Thank you so much for all your amazing work over the years. It's mindblowing!

[@golarac6433]

Great video, this is a really interesting topic. Most all retro systems that have dedicated fanbase will get advanced techniques developed and it's great to see. Very nice breakthrough.

[@uponeric36]

As a consumer; to artists: chase the imagination, not the actual limitations. The appeal of the N64 isn't it's limited graphics, it's the feeling of magic those limited graphics gave, the same thing can be done with less limits to create a better image for the viewer.

[@Mattened]

>consumer

[@humblesophos]

I’ve found that as graphics have improved stories, character development and originality have all declined. That’s why I think N64 was the GOAT, 3D gameplay that still had a heavy focus on original content, great stories, challenging puzzles and good characters.

[@alvallac2171]

*consumer, to *its limited graphics (possessive pronoun) it's = contraction of "it is" or "it has" All contractions have apostrophes. Possessive pronouns never do. *graphics. Its (to fix your comma splice run-on) *gave. The (another comma splice) *fewer limits (because "limits" is a count noun)

[@Gatitasecsii]

Finally someone who makes sense! I believe it is possible to make a pretty game with the charm of the N64 without having to make it look awful like N64 games. It's all so tainted by nostalgia.

[@Gatitasecsii]

@@humblesophos Sure, cause Link's personality was so fleshed out back in the day compared to Kratos' in the latest God of War. Or if you wanna keep it in the same franchises; Sure, because Kratos' character was so well developed back in the day compared to the latest God of War. Or if you wanna keep it realistic; Sure, because Link is so much more developed now than he was back in Ocarina of Time. (diss on nintendo's lack of progress in character development, which for some reason you think has declined.)

[@JamesDeColling]

awesome work! im glad you didnt take the way ive seen other youtubers go with saying "n64 / psx devs were lazy, they didnt use these techniques!" kind of clickbait. the consoles back then were brand new, cutting edge. most devs didnt have any 3d knowledge, not to mention the tools available. 3d dcc software at the time was incredibly basic too. things like detail textures werent even a consideration early on because it just wasnt known. great vid!

[@RusticYT123]

I wonder how far ocarina of time could be pushed on the n64. As that ran at 20fps.

[@lilox3690]

There are mods that bring it to 30 and 60 fps on PC emulators but it looks really weird just because having those kinds of FPS on N64 was unheard of

[@Xbob42]

@@lilox3690 I play it via Ship of Harkinian at 120+ FPS. I don't think it looks weird at all, I think it looks great since I thought it looked like shit at 15-20 FPS even when I played it on launch day on the N64. That said, their question was about how far you could optimize/push the N64 to maximize framerate, like this project. I'd also be curious. I bet it could easily hit 30.

[@FazanaJ]

30 is as easy as disabling anti-aliasing, but oot has the same problem sm64 originally did where the physics are hard tied to framerate so a lot more work would need to be done to fix that.

[@EVPointMaster]

@@FazanaJ Wasn't OOT decompiled as well? That should make it significantly easier to add support for variable frame rates.

[@FazanaJ]

@@EVPointMaster Easier than borderline impossible, but it'll still be pretty CBT. SM64's a much simpler game and there was a lot of annoying things to deal with when decoupling logic from framerate there.

[@nixel1324]

Incredible video. Also, that barrel groundpound animation is _so_ satisfying. This game is just so full of small touches (and large touches!) that make it so good!

[@noelleonhart]

Kaze casually redefining what "a product of its time" could have been.

[@Jhat]

Kaze, please do a gdc talk on your work and the tactics to overcome hardware limitations. Though it’s outdated in terms of hardware, it’s important for people to see what lengths can be gone to in order to overcome limitations.

[@Rafa-Silva-Alt]

Agreed on that.

[@ViviBuchlaw]

Yes I love these videos, keep them coming! I'm a little sad we don't get refined, intentional versions of these art styles, but I guess that's okay 😂

[@MattBixler]

this just makes me think of the huge growth in technical knowledge the NES had during its life. this sort of optimization and love for the potential of hardware really feels like it's gone away these days, and the loss has led to so much waste. REALLY impressive stuff

[@DoublemanFM]

Next Kaze video: "I fully converted the Nintendo 64 into the Ultra 64, which can play a PlayStation, Saturn, and Nintendo 64 game natively at the same time with no performance loss. Preorders start at $5"

[@irgendwer3610]

that's style is also present in PC games of the era when they use the texture filtering instead of software rendering

[@crestofhonor2349]

Software rendering was also done entirely on the CPU

[@Washburnello]

Every time Kaze releases a video, I understand 25% of it but enjoy 500% of it.

[@baronvonherzenberger2473]

What an awesome video. There aren't many videos with this much quality, congratulations and keep up! Thanks!

[@Jademalo]

I always feel like texture filtering is the big thing that differentiated the N64 from the PS1, the vibe between the pixellated textures and the smoothed textures is massively different. Also the classic PS1 affine texture mapping(?) and lack of perspective correction thing that made all of the tris wobble constantly

[@Jademalo]

@@chikkin.salad.sandwich Absolutely, totally agree with that. There's a reason the whole "x but with the N64 soundfont" video genre is so popular, it has a very distinct feel to it. Obviously the PS1 being CD based just had regular music, so it doesn't have as distinct an identity (admittedly aside from PS1 jungle, which was more of an era thing than a limitation thing)

[@theblah12]

@@JademaloQuite a few PS1 games had a distinct “sound font” on the PS1, rather then just red book or streamed audio, but they were largely unique to the game itself since you could store as many samples as you wanted on a disc. The Crash Bandicoot sound font is very distinctive, as is the ones used by Squaresoft in their various RPGs. They’re all sourced from largely the same synths and libraries that were popular at the time so there’s a lot of similarities even from games from differing developers.

[@jsr734]

@@Jademalo There are lots of Ps1 games that used sequenced samples not just streamed audio. For example all the Final Fantasys, Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil games all they use sequenced audio samples for most of their background music and of course sound effects.

[@xl73.]

15:20 for a good while there I thought there was dirt on my screen. It took me 10 seconds of scratching on the screen constantly to realize "Wait. That's the video."

[@dacueba-games]

Coming out soon (2028)

[@TurnTheHeatonNow]

First one of your videos ive come across, thought it was really well presented and fascinating.

[@samuelthecamel]

Video game graphics pipeline: State-of-the-art graphics -> decent graphics -> terrible graphics -> somewhat nostalgic -> retro aesthetic

[@Simchen]

Absolutely true. And it is only a matter of time until somewhat that looks terrible becomes nostalgic and cool again. I'd say ~10 year old graphics are in the terrible department but +20 years old is just nostalgic and cool.

[@casev799]

Also entirely depends on who your market is: older people probably won't care what the state of your graphics is or even love your shitty ones. I know I like it either way

[@uponeric36]

I disagree that these graphics ever looked bad, rather the tech we used to view them changed and so did our expectations. If you pop Mario 64 onto a nice CRT, it will have beautiful scan-lines, bright saturated colors, good contrast, and it's soft 240p image will scale much better on CRT than modern monitor. Basically, Mario 64 on flat screen monitor/TV via emulator along with many other retro games, look nothing like their originals. These games didn't sell because they're ugly, you can tell from reactions at the time that this was genuinely ground breaking art that challenged established beauty - I'd take a frame of Mario 64 over the Mona Lisa any day.

[@thesenamesaretaken]

​@@Simchenbesides the odd niche thing like raytraced reflections, are 10 year old graphics even that different from today's graphics?

[@EnigmaticGentleman]

​@@thesenamesaretakenI would say that the differences are a bit more than marginal, but fast forward to around the time Red Dead 2 came out and the differences between it and todays graphics are basically nonexistent (in fact lets be real the people still fussing over graphics genuinely want to be able to dissociate from real life).

[@Nigel222]

I love how there seems to be a lot of cool Zelda OOT fan games coming out in recent times due this increased knowledge of the N64 capabilities.

[@GTXDash]

Sweet! Another video about some N64 programming/modding goodness.

[@selohcin]

I'm so glad there is someone out there doing this stuff. I would love it if he and some friends release an actual game.

[@Uhfgood]

I never had an n64 -- I don't think I was buying any consoles during this time, and I wasn't really a Nintendo guy anyway. But your videos are very interesting, and makes me want to try out some games.

[@CharlesVanNoland]

Mad props for hex-editing models to stitch them together. Back in the day I would hex-edit EXE files (games) to hack them. I used win32dasm to disassemble the game, then I'd find where it was issuing OpenGL calls, and I'd go and modify the parameters pushed onto the stack as arguments to those calls. I would do all kinds of stuff, modifying game parameters to be usable for different things, etc. Then I'd release process patchers that would write my hex-edits over the loaded EXE file while it was running in memory for other people to enjoy my exploits. I'm glad to see a fellow hex-editing hero do something cool with the ability to manually modify data.

[@skinwalker69420]

All this effort, then all people ask you for is to do this with ocarina of time

[@nickfromm5315]

Techniques always evolve over every console's lifespan. The original SMB1 was a simple side scroll, but SMB3 offered X&Y scrolling which was a programing achievement.

[@EvilStevilTheKenevilPEN15]

The small texture cache is enough _now_ with decades of hacking/decompilation resources, years of experience granting encyclopedic knowledge of the hardware, and all of the microcodes released. If you were a developer actually trying to develop a game before a deadline back in the 90s? It was just another headache that made your whole team want to release on PS1 instead.

[@M1XART]

So they though PS1 2kbit cache to be more desireable then.

[@Rafa-Silva-Alt]

Still it does not detract from the fact that Kaze does a great job. And it's also telling how Nintendo treated game developers with little information or poor tools at the time...

[@jsr734]

@@M1XART At least that 2Kbyte cache on Ps1 was not mandatory to use, unlike the N64.

[@kevgmei]

30 years later, and the N64 is still the most impressive console ever made! It would be cool if Nintendo paid attention to this stuff and the N64 was still in demand so we could see more N64 games just for the heck of it!

[@payumayu]

I want to say that I really appreciate how you never stop emphasizing that Nintendo really can't be blamed for not having this back in the day. Some aspect that a lot of people often overlook is the aspect of time when it comes to making videogames as a business. The pressure of investors, deadlines and release dates adds a whole new layer to everything. It's not always just the question what a developer *can* do, but also rather what he has time for. Sure, you can spend another year to reeeally optimize the code to squeeze out some more FPS... but do you have the time for that? More often than not, the unfortunate answer simply is: "That'll have to do for now". On that note I'd actually be curious if we'd imagine a parallel universe where Mario 64 was wasn't released until 2005 or something to include all these optimizations. Would that universe then end up with overall better graphics by the time of 2024 than our universe? Or would the graphics be worse because everything got postponed in time? Kind of interesting to think about.

[@lloyd011721]

"i 3d modeled in a hex editor" thats one of the most insane things ive hear heard. also id really love to see kaze crack open pokemon stadium 2 some time

[@Mel0D]

with all of this stuff combined, your hack legitimately looks more like something run on a gamecube than an N64. and that's not a bad thing - it's absolutely stellar, impressive as all get out. i wish more developers of games on modern engines had an eye to such fine understanding of hardware and optimization. higher level coding is a blessing but developers these days really should learn some low level code, learn what their compilers are actually doing, and apply some discipline when developing more often.

[@lpfan4491]

I once saw a video documenting that a lot of modern games self-bottleneck in a way where user hardware cannot help because they try to render before changes are calculated and applied, so they have to freeze until completion. Knowing some tricks and analyzing common problem is always a good idea, too often we are left with companies saying "don't optimize this, technology will strongarm it"...and most of the time, no, technology does not strongarm it because it is held up by designflaws and not power.

[@mindblockandroid]

I used to do mods for Unreal Tournament 2004. UE2.5 was a polygon monster! It could render absurd amounts of geometric detail even with the crappiest GPUs. But everybody was obsessed with reducing polygons on EVERYTHING, even when it was absolutely unnecessary.

[@devpz]

Kaze is best rom hacker ❤👍🍠

[@toko90s9]

It's kind of insane how devs barely scratched the surface of what the N64 was capable of back during it's life span. Now this makes me wonder how many other older consoles can be pushed to levels no one thought they were capable of.

[@Nzcade]

Impressive

[@NowOnAFM]

Quite fascinating. I’m really impressed how dedicated you are with n64 development and technicalities. Makes me wish that you would release and sell an original IP game that’s developed with n64 limitations in mind. Something that’s sold on the Switch’s eShop. I would support in a heartbeat.

[@dumpmuch]

Is it playable on N64?

[@KazeN64]

yes, thats kinda the point

[@backup_account_1]

I congratulate you for this excellent analysis. Anyway, I personally LOVE the original aesthetic and art style of the N64, so I don't think it's necessary to "overcome" its limitations. I think it is precisely thanks to these limitations (and not in spite of them) that we have such a unique graphic section with a magic and charm that transmits warmth and makes you feel at home. I leave my like 👍🏻 for the amazing work for this video.

[@d4rkblizz4rd0]

y he sound like he's edging 24/7 😭

[@KazeN64]

??????????????????????????????????????!!!

[@YuraSuper2048]

what

[@Smalicious]

That's just because he's German

[@d4rkblizz4rd0]

@@KazeN64 i really love your videos i just noticed watching this one. No hate :D and @Smalicious is probably right 👀

[@acronym.4328]

*How would you know what that sounds like?*

[@joshuachittun4747]

Appreciate the share, as someone who is still an advent user of the N64 console and its unique and memorable library.

[@LILnashamLOL]

MAN I NEED THIS ROM HACK 3:13

[@Romanian-Balls]

does anyone know what it is?

[@matthew-1710]

It's his own WIP rom hack called Return to Yoshi's Island, it is not released yet.

[@Unfiltered_Raven]

you make programing interesting to watch keep it up my man. really helps with people like me who have never made a game.

[@Tocen]

WOW this guy 3d modeled in a hex editor GOATED

[@drewlincoln8110]

although everything went over my head i love how kaze has a passion for this and is able to do this

[@glitchyguru6468]

8:41 amongus

[@QuantumConundrum]

It really makes you wonder what teams could do if project management didn't just cut budget in half and was forced to deliver ASAP.

[@Kyranyoutubevids]

Nintendo: wait that’s illegal!

[@Th0maZzzleep]

I get it but it isn't true. He has broken no laws in this video. He just makes maps for sm 64. He has his own game dumped to his computer. And emulators aren't illegal. Just illegaly obtained roms are. Obviosly I know that you are joking but I'm making sure everyone knows that this isn't illegal

[@skinwalker69420]

@@Th0maZzzleep wouldn't stop a Nintendo lawyer but Nintendo realistically doesn't care what one guy does as a rom hack

[@razorblade413]

@@Th0maZzzleep very good information. The first thing that comes to my mind is the mario shotgun 64 mod video taken down by nintendo. So if shotgun would use original levels and enemies then the video could have not taken down? (non english speaker, so i don't know if i screwed some verbs here jaja)

[@KazeN64]

its very difficult to predict what nintendo takes down. they have taken down even blender tutorials on my channel before (with no usage of Nintendo IP besides a single windwaker texture). they just go after channels periodically when a project gains reach. i fully expecet 10-20 video takedowns when RTYI releases.

[@razorblade413]

@@KazeN64 Thanks. I hope other companies aside nintendo, don't make sh*tt* moves like that. I think you should always have a backup for your videos in case they were taken down. But I probably guess you have though already that.

[@T26OG.]

Man, i wish i had you around in 96 when i was 12. If you would have shown me your work back then, my little mind would have been blown. Way back then, first playing it, I had no idea the legacy it would create and the impact it would have. I was just sittin there, sippin surge and perusing my nintendo power magazines havin no clue.

[@neighbor9672]

Kaze is a legend

[@mattshu]

2:23 You say "cool blending effect", I call it "first time I remember trauma as a child"

[@alpacalord]

What game is the clip from at 0:14 with the big yellow dude?

[@_gherry]

some game for the n64 dd

[@pjuster2]

Doushin the Giant for the 64dd

[@thearchergravity]

An actually good remaster. I'm onboard for this. Shows what happens when there's passion in the project and it's not just a cash grab.

[@YuraSuper2048]

i love you

[@squidtito8501]

I love you too

[@Curlyheart]

I love you as well

[@lucasgalarraga8]

This is amazing. Thank you for the video Kaze!

[@1gnore_me.]

it's also worth considering, that perhaps low poly was done because it was simply easier to make. developers didn't have the same tools we have now. what seems trivial to us, might have been a huge hassle back then.

[@TheBreadPirate]

Your optimizations are endlessly fascinating. 👏 Bloody fascinating.

[@JesusBleach]

the particles and light on the tabern kind map you did is beautiful.

[@etetgg1364]

Bro really has a PhD in Nintendo 64. Simply insane.

[@thecircusb0y1]

I understand about 25% of this, and am subscribing because I'd love to learn more.

[@PaperBanjo64]

I understand even less, but his footage can get the point across.

[@hexed8749]

....man.... I wish you would make new n64 games utilizing all the ingenious stuff you know and figured out Kaze... Thank you so much for all your hard work. All of us who had our childhoods in the 90s appreciate everything you've done and are doing brother.

[@Zachruff]

also thanks for making such good videos like this, always appreciate learning new things.

[@e-mananimates2274]

It's always insightful to hear your discoveries regarding game improvements.