As a collector of SGI computers, an Everdrive seems WAY simpler than the days of old using an SGI Indy fitted with the U64 dev kit hardware. I've been amazed by this series and hope to one day run Portal64 on real hardware, keep it up!! I find myself excitedly awaiting every update video!!
@@auxel_ This turned out longer than I was expecting but hope it helps! Honestly there's tons of places to look around, I'd advise against eBay however as the pricing there is notoriously bad and shipping damage is pretty common with SGI systems even if packaged fairly well. I got my Indy off Facebook marketplace from another collector who knew how to properly package it, and I got my Octane2 from a guy on Craigslist who won it in an auction from a medical center. Try sticking to local options like marketplace and craigslist and maybe even try looking for any businesses that may have used the machine you're looking for (example: news stations that used O2s for weather graphics), another place you could try is surplus auction sites, I was eyeing a lot of 7 SGI O2s from the University of Washington. One of the best ways to find SGI systems IMO is getting into the SGI community to meet others, you'll usually see random bits of hardware and even complete systems being sold fairly often and the pricing is pretty fair as they're collectors themselves, irixnet.org is a great forum to try as well as the Silicon Graphics User Group forums and discord server. The discord server has been an invaluable resource for me as once you get an SGI, you can be a little overwhelmed with how to do things like install IRIX and where to find disk images, everyone on the discord is incredibly kind and helpful, when I located my Octane2 I asked for some help identifying the specs based on the pics in the listing and several people jumped to help me out, awesome people. Spend some time picking a system you want, look into the different parts and specs for that system, look around at the reasonably priced stuff for an idea, and just don't give up on your search as it's easy to be discouraged between the overpriced stuff and the lack of results. And join the SGUG discord for opinions if you find something and get a fair price estimate from them, and try to haggle down the seller's price to that or even lower if you're willing, if you're patient and know more about the system than the seller does and you're smart about your offers then you'll most likely score a pretty good SGI for a reasonable price, having that entire community worth of knowledge in your back pocket helps immensely when both searching and getting the system up and running. Best of luck to you! Another minor note is finding sync-on-green compatible monitors, there's a list online compiled by the PS2 Linux community that has a list of SOG compatible monitors.
Most of the later N64 titles were developed using a different devkit called "Partner N64" that was supplied by Kyoto Microcomputer (but they would only sell it to Nintendo licensees) - that was much more like the Everdrive setup - there was a slightly modified N64 console with extra wires so the debugger could generate reset and NMI and a cartridge you downloaded the code you were testing to - connection to the host system was either via a SCSI based interface (used with the SGI machines) or via an ISA bus plug-in card for PCs. Unlike the Everdrive it was RAM based, so it was fast to download code to, but it was also volatile. I have to say I always thought that the original Ultra 64 devboard was a slightly strange design because it's use of the GIO32 bus and the connector positioning meant that it could only be connected to the slots on top of the Indy video board and not to anything else, not even other SGI machines.
for some reason, seeing it on an old crt really made it kick in for me that this really IS on the n64. like, you see it in the screen captures, but my mind just cant properly process it. such incredible work you are doing, and i really hope you get approval from valve to distribute it (knowing them, they might be good sports about it)
They have Micro Mages (an NES game, that runs on an emulator if you play from Steam), and there are mods of Portal/Portal 2 that are on steam and require you to own Portal (2) to play them.
Valve lets mods of their games be sold for actual money (provided the people buying them own the original game), so I have no doubt that they'd let him distribute a full blown remake (or is it demake?) of their game. Although people would have to own Portal first before they can download it
I've played through Portal almost 12 times or more now, but man I cannot wait to play it again this way! Such an impressive project, keep up the amazing work!
This project never ceases to amaze me! Not only in the fact that this is even possible on mid-90s technology, but how well it runs! Also really awesome that you’re giving away an everdrive, I wouldn’t have thought I’d get a chance to win an X7!
I've got me an EDX7 already (using abbreviation so I don't win accidentally lmao) and have been trying out every new beta for this. Always exciting to see a new update and fascinating behind the scenes stuff!
Been following this on-and-off, figured an Everdrive was what you were using, but I didn't even know there was one that let you run a debugger! Fascinating work on the game, love your commitment to the little details.
I have actually never owned an Everdrive before, honestly I would love to give it a shot! Furthermore this project is seriously amazing. The fact any of this is even possible on N64.. is wild. Absolutely amazing work!
I've had an everdrive on my wishlist for a long time, they're just too expensive for me to justify yet. I love what you're doing here and I'm excited to eventually see the finished product!
Is there even any chance they'll ever get cheaper? Been eyeing one as well but I'm not as eager to spend as much for it as the system itself that they're for, even though the price point and features are completely justified it's just a bit much lol
I absolutely adore this series. Fingers crossed that I win the Everdrive (would love to play this on hardware), but the fact that you're back to working on this project is a gift unto itself.
Dude this has been an awesome journey thus far. I love Portal so much, so seeing it run so well on the N64 is insane. And now you're giving away an Everdrive? I'm down for that too :) Thank you so much for giving away an Everdrive (and for everything you do)!
Using the everdrive to test it on console was not something I expected! I thought it would be tested in an emulator first, but this way is just so much cooler (and makes more sense for what you are doing)! Keep up the awesome work!
Jesus, those animations are crazy fluid for n64 hardware, and surprisingly high fidelity model and textures to boot! And you know I'd never noticed that little bit of leading Valve did in the first chamber, showing you your "reflection" for lack of a better term.
Just Everdrive? Lol You are an awesome passionate programmer! I love seeing old hardware achieve their peek potential. It’s amazing just to imagine what Nintendo could have done if they kept development for the console, but you… it’s something beyond that. Keep the good work!
Animal Crossing is a good example of that. I never knew until recently that it originally released for the N64 in Japan and then was immediately refactored for the GameCube and released worldwide. The visual difference is minimal and it definitely looks like a high-end N64 game. With all the development we're getting for homebrew tech, it looks like we may finally get to see what can really be done with it, and not just in little isolated demos.
I struggle with learning stuff, so I don’t know if I’ll _Everdrive_ … I’ll see myself out. In all seriousness, this is incredibly impressive. De-makes are always super impressive is because most games are made because of the capabilities of the hardware they are built on, so seeing something scaled down to function on older hardware is always fascinating. Also, out of curiosity, in more of a speculative sense, what kind of impact do you think the release of a game like Portal would have had, if it had come out during the time of the N64? What would that mean for development, and the tools and techniques that people would have used?
Really enjoy the fact that you're taking the time to explain all of these problems that you come across while making this project, and how you solve them for it to work! Everdrive
Love your work, keep it up! I have a couple of flashcarts for SNES and GB, GBA, but seeing that there are some that you can use to debug code on-hardware seems insanely useful. Probabbly don't have that much time and dedication to port something as complex as portal to N64, but I'd like to tip my toes into N64 development. So I'd love to have that Everdrive.
That Everdrive having a USB port for bidirectional communication with your dev machine is awesome! Reminded me that I had been considering rendering data to a small section of the screen to enable the Ocarina of Time Randomizer to export information, e.g. to update an automatic item tracker, in an emulator-agnostic way. Of course, it would only be unidirectional. Debugging on embedded systems can be such a challenge. It's awesome following your progress and seeing what you've been able to create.
Just got an N64 and learnt how to code C recently, I should get myself an everdrive (plus real carts are rare). Very interesting stuff you've done here - I wonder what else could be put onto the N64?
Ah, i've been wanting an Everdrive , so happy to enter the contest! That aside, can you explain how the animations work if they're not keyframe based? I got into lightly into 3d software around a decade ago, back when a lot of the introductory resources still focused on 2d texture, height, etc maps, keyframe animations and IK or triangle weight rigging, etc, and it seems like the entire workflow is different now and those things aren't really used much anymore?
I could have explained that better. I just store the pose of every bone each frame. I still animate using keyframes, the keyframes are just interpolated ahead of time and stored as one giant chunk. They key advantage to the new system is I can jump to any frame immediately since I know how much memory each frame takes. (offset_in_memory = sizeof_of_frame * frame_index)
I've been following your project and it's just wicked kewl. Thanks Everdrive as well. Love my growing N64 collection and would be nice to have a drive as well.
This is the first time i see a live demonstration of someone attaching a debugger to an N64 via an everdrive. Some serious impressive stuff to see that this is possible, next to the also impressive project you're working on. Maybe in a few years, when my kids are bigger and not snotmonsters anymore, I hope to give this a try.
During college I wanted to develop a game project that would run on N64 hardware, but never had the time to take on that project alongside my other classes. Now that I’ve graduated I’d absolutely love to be able to do that, and the Everdrive (plus your other suggested tools and advice) is a huge step forward in that direction. I’ve kept up with your Portal64 development in the past month or two now, and it’s been amazing to see what you can achieve on-console!
Imagine getting portalled an Everdrive. Oh well. Love the collision implementation from the previous episode, well done with getting a rigged model even rendering on N64 in the first place. I think the limbs and neck, you could probably save texture memory by making those fades out of vertex colours instead of models, but considering the generally low variety of textures Portal's chambers utilize, that might, might not be worth the tradeoff. Just an idea, hope you have fun making most of this project.
Amazing video as always! Been wanting an Everdrive for such a long time to experience N64 on real hardware, but the price is crazy. Whether I win or not, always love watching your videos.
Assuming your graph is fully connected, I'm wondering if there's an application of Dijkstra's/A* that might work for picking short (albeit not guaranteed optimal) paths? In my head, from a given starting vertex, label each vertex with it's hop/edge count from that vertex, keeping track of the current maximum vertex and skipping any previously visited vertices (this may generate multiple maximum vertices; this is only heuristic so the first found maximum of a given value is sufficient). Use Dijkstra's/A* to find the shortest path between the starting vertex and the resulting "maximum hop" vertex. Store that part of the traversal, removing all used vertices. Repeat this algorithm from the beginning (recompute hop/edge count, ...) from that end vertex against only the remaining vertices, until all vertices are consumed. Essentially, "hop distance" is the heuristic here; if there's a "straight line" distance equivalent for your graph that would perform better. Also, "everdrive" :)
Honestly flash cats like Everdrive make homebrew WAY more feasible than it ever was, not to mention being able to just select what you want from a menu instead of swapping carts. I think that Everdrive can even emulate a GameShark, too. Portal64 is extremely impressive given the hardware, and would have blown my child mind even more than PC portal did my young adult mind. Can't imagine trying to write software for the 64 using the old Silicon Graphics workstations used for that. Being able to use a modern PC has to go quite a ways.
Cool to see this dev setup. I've been looking into my options for finishing a cancelled N64 port of Frogger 2, so this series is right up my alley. Take this comment as my entry into the Everdrive giveaway, if I win I'll use it to assist finish the port.
I've read all about the Everdrive and other console equivalents... coming upon a video about a game series I am passionate about learning about on a system that I also enjoy is truly something crazy.
That EVERDRIVE sponsorship was really unexpected. Jokes aside, really admire your work and skill. Can't wait for your next update video or even the release of the game. :)
Man, if demaking an entire game from the late 2000s on hardware from the mid 90s where a drive, it would be a long one. Now, if that hardware also had the storage limitations of the N64 carterage, that my friend, would be an Everdrive.
This is my first time seeing your videos! Keep up the great work and best of luck with all your projects! Oh yeah and everdrive xd may aswell join the giveaway :)
Been following this project for a while now. I had no idea you used everdrive. That's really an incredible tool. I'd love to see what I could do with one someday. Keep up the awesome work!
That Everdrive thing is actually sick. I wish I had heard about this kind of stuff sooner since I've always wondered how people make games for older systems.
I’d love an Everdrive, I started learning C in one of my classes as a CS major and loved it. I dream of one day going into game development. I love the N64 and have a small collection, but it would be so cool to be able to make my own games for it.
The KISS solution is to not take the travelling salesman route to solve this. Step 1: Apply all the transformations to the vertex list(mesh) for the animation. Step 2: Load the necessary texture. Step 3: Load the corresponding triangle list. Step 4: Draw the triangles. Step 5: Go to step 2 until you have rendered the entire model.
Portal64 seems like such a crazy project, there are developers who make their games feel like they're being ran on retro consoles, much respect to them, but then there are developers like you who make games on the actual hardware is so insane to me. Much much respect, keep up the good work. I would love to have an everdrive, playing n64 games on emulators unfortunately still isn't 100% perfect, but this would be a great addition to my collection.
I love romhacking and have wanted an everdrive to work direct on hardware for a while, but the cost has been hard to justify. Great work on the animation system (:
I have a Mega Everdrive Pro (for Sega Mega Drive/Genesis) and it is awesome, I have a relative who got an old N64 and is slowly buying the peripherals to get it working but these things are too expensive in our country. She would be so happy to have an Everdrive for the N64, it would be an amazing gift
I'm glad they're still making and selling the Everdrive! Pretty expensive, but for it for anyone interested in investing in this console. Since you're making these videos more accessible, I think it would be good to do a "Top [x] Features I'd Like in Future N64 Software." Something along the lines of the audio engine and XM player that was added to LibDragon a bit ago, or some retro-optimized anti-aliasing method. You have the insight to make informed suggestions and it could get some wheels spinning in the community. For Chel, I know your "mesh optimization problem" is more related to transforms (that's what it sounds like, anyway), but how about full model symmetry to reduce poly count? Both the model and texture are already symmetrical, but I'm not sure if any N64 code is tailored to asymmetrically transform mirrored/instanced geometry in a single object. If you're already doing that, that would be cool.
It's pretty cool to see the development community for N64 games is still around, especially through the help of modern tools like the everdrive. Lot of passion and care goes into stuff like that, and it's really awesome to see it running on real hardware
My son and I have been watching the development of your Portal 64 homebrew port. We have been loving the content so far and can't wait to see where this project takes you. #EVERDRIVE64
Wow, that Everdirve cart is really cool. Never seen n64 development before, so I'm not sure what already existed, but seeing you debug an n64 game in VS code was wild.
I joined the Smash Remix team earlier this year and it's been fun hacking/developing for the N64. I didn't know the Everdrive could be used for debugging like that. Love Portal 64 and I always look forward to your updates. Gonna download it now and try it out!
I've been using a Gameboy Everdrive for several years. Tempted to get the updated version, as a few have come out in that time. Would love to have this for N64 too.
You're doing amazing work and it's great to see Chell in her in-game form. Keep up the great work, can't wait to see what the new year brings for the project too! 😁
Would be pretty awesome to play this on my actual N64, if only I had an everdrive ; 3 But for real it's been amazing to see the progress of this. Portal is my favorite game, and I really really love your clear explanations on how you're doing things and it makes me want to try N64 development myself! I guess that might be another use for an everdrive, but I could also always emulate Excited to see the next update!
it's cool that everdrive gave you an extra unit. Love the project I've been following every video. I have a friend that watches too and every time a new video comes out I tell her it's portal 64 time
i didn't know they made an Everdrive with a USB port, it seems really useful that it allows you to do live debugging. They know their audience, I guess.
Coding new games with old software alongside modern techniques makes you think about how different the gaming market would be today if hardware development was slower and let devs have more time to get used to the architecture of each console. Also, the Everdrive cartridge looks awesome, I'd definitely love to have the whole lineup haha.
I've been following this homebrew for a while and it's been incredibly impressive. As an N64 hacker (without an Everdrive sadly), it's justifying to see you overcome a lot of the struggles that the N64 and computer science in general set up for you. Keep up the good work!!!
Hey! It's been a while since I noticed this project and its so impressive to see! I think the Everdrive shines brightest when used to play ROM hacks, Homebrews or really niche and innovative ideas like this. I love seeing how far a developer can take such limited resources.
I had no idea everdrive had such neat features! I had just assumed you were emulating the whole time and testing on real hardware after major development milestones
Kriklz did an amazing job on the everdrive . I love how developers can actually use it to code new games for the N64 didn't even know you can debug using it thought it was only for uploading roms!
Chell doesn't need a portal gun, she manifests them out of sheer will
The only reason you see one as a viewmodel is sheer power of belief
"What is she doing?" "She's beginning to believe"
She stares at the wall so aggressively that it bends spacetime out of fear
Shouldn't he just add a portal gun model to her right hand?
reminded me of "Gordon doesn't need to hear this, he's a highly trained professional!"
As a collector of SGI computers, an Everdrive seems WAY simpler than the days of old using an SGI Indy fitted with the U64 dev kit hardware. I've been amazed by this series and hope to one day run Portal64 on real hardware, keep it up!! I find myself excitedly awaiting every update video!!
You win
I’ve been wanting to get into collecting SGI computers. Where do you get them from / how do you go about collecting them?
@@auxel_ This turned out longer than I was expecting but hope it helps! Honestly there's tons of places to look around, I'd advise against eBay however as the pricing there is notoriously bad and shipping damage is pretty common with SGI systems even if packaged fairly well.
I got my Indy off Facebook marketplace from another collector who knew how to properly package it, and I got my Octane2 from a guy on Craigslist who won it in an auction from a medical center. Try sticking to local options like marketplace and craigslist and maybe even try looking for any businesses that may have used the machine you're looking for (example: news stations that used O2s for weather graphics), another place you could try is surplus auction sites, I was eyeing a lot of 7 SGI O2s from the University of Washington.
One of the best ways to find SGI systems IMO is getting into the SGI community to meet others, you'll usually see random bits of hardware and even complete systems being sold fairly often and the pricing is pretty fair as they're collectors themselves, irixnet.org is a great forum to try as well as the Silicon Graphics User Group forums and discord server. The discord server has been an invaluable resource for me as once you get an SGI, you can be a little overwhelmed with how to do things like install IRIX and where to find disk images, everyone on the discord is incredibly kind and helpful, when I located my Octane2 I asked for some help identifying the specs based on the pics in the listing and several people jumped to help me out, awesome people.
Spend some time picking a system you want, look into the different parts and specs for that system, look around at the reasonably priced stuff for an idea, and just don't give up on your search as it's easy to be discouraged between the overpriced stuff and the lack of results. And join the SGUG discord for opinions if you find something and get a fair price estimate from them, and try to haggle down the seller's price to that or even lower if you're willing, if you're patient and know more about the system than the seller does and you're smart about your offers then you'll most likely score a pretty good SGI for a reasonable price, having that entire community worth of knowledge in your back pocket helps immensely when both searching and getting the system up and running.
Best of luck to you! Another minor note is finding sync-on-green compatible monitors, there's a list online compiled by the PS2 Linux community that has a list of SOG compatible monitors.
@@VintageShark Thank you so much!
Most of the later N64 titles were developed using a different devkit called "Partner N64" that was supplied by Kyoto Microcomputer (but they would only sell it to Nintendo licensees) - that was much more like the Everdrive setup - there was a slightly modified N64 console with extra wires so the debugger could generate reset and NMI and a cartridge you downloaded the code you were testing to - connection to the host system was either via a SCSI based interface (used with the SGI machines) or via an ISA bus plug-in card for PCs. Unlike the Everdrive it was RAM based, so it was fast to download code to, but it was also volatile.
I have to say I always thought that the original Ultra 64 devboard was a slightly strange design because it's use of the GIO32 bus and the connector positioning meant that it could only be connected to the slots on top of the Indy video board and not to anything else, not even other SGI machines.
for some reason, seeing it on an old crt really made it kick in for me that this really IS on the n64. like, you see it in the screen captures, but my mind just cant properly process it. such incredible work you are doing, and i really hope you get approval from valve to distribute it (knowing them, they might be good sports about it)
I’m pretty sure this is all able to run on real n64 hardware, right?
They have Micro Mages (an NES game, that runs on an emulator if you play from Steam), and there are mods of Portal/Portal 2 that are on steam and require you to own Portal (2) to play them.
After letting Hunt Down The Freeman be sold for real actual money, I'd hope so.
Valve lets mods of their games be sold for actual money (provided the people buying them own the original game), so I have no doubt that they'd let him distribute a full blown remake (or is it demake?) of their game. Although people would have to own Portal first before they can download it
@@snoopdoggthecertifiedg6777 Yes
I've played through Portal almost 12 times or more now, but man I cannot wait to play it again this way! Such an impressive project, keep up the amazing work!
"The only thing better than Portal...
... is Weezer."
This project never ceases to amaze me! Not only in the fact that this is even possible on mid-90s technology, but how well it runs!
Also really awesome that you’re giving away an everdrive, I wouldn’t have thought I’d get a chance to win an X7!
I've got me an EDX7 already (using abbreviation so I don't win accidentally lmao) and have been trying out every new beta for this. Always exciting to see a new update and fascinating behind the scenes stuff!
Wow she looks great! Love following this project!
Been following this on-and-off, figured an Everdrive was what you were using, but I didn't even know there was one that let you run a debugger! Fascinating work on the game, love your commitment to the little details.
What a huge progress with Chell. We appreciate you showing us the behind the scenes 🙂. And thanks to Everdrive too!
For some reason I didn't expect you to be able to debug N64 code with a modern IDE. Really cool that it works!
I have actually never owned an Everdrive before, honestly I would love to give it a shot!
Furthermore this project is seriously amazing. The fact any of this is even possible on N64.. is wild. Absolutely amazing work!
The everdrive giveaway has ended. Thank you to all who participated.
Sir the link for the latest rom is incorrect
everdrive!
everdrive! :)
everdrive! ❤
everdrive! d:
I've had an everdrive on my wishlist for a long time, they're just too expensive for me to justify yet. I love what you're doing here and I'm excited to eventually see the finished product!
Is there even any chance they'll ever get cheaper?
Been eyeing one as well but I'm not as eager to spend as much for it as the system itself that they're for, even though the price point and features are completely justified it's just a bit much lol
Its insane that this much can be put on an N64. It really shows what the console was capable of. Glad that everdrive made it possible
Everdrive sounds like an amazing tool for dev work. So glad that as time has progressed, the tools for these systems only get better
I cant wait to play this myself. Playing this on the everdrive would be soo cool!
great work so far!
I absolutely adore this series. Fingers crossed that I win the Everdrive (would love to play this on hardware), but the fact that you're back to working on this project is a gift unto itself.
Dude this has been an awesome journey thus far. I love Portal so much, so seeing it run so well on the N64 is insane. And now you're giving away an Everdrive? I'm down for that too :)
Thank you so much for giving away an Everdrive (and for everything you do)!
Seeing linux running on a thinkpad just feels right. Pretty cool seeing your work.
Linux is the only ideological operating system.
@@eadweard. Sure you dont mean MacOS
Using the everdrive to test it on console was not something I expected! I thought it would be tested in an emulator first, but this way is just so much cooler (and makes more sense for what you are doing)! Keep up the awesome work!
This is insanely impressive, chell actually looks amazing for n64 standards. Also I wish everyone good luck on winning the Everdrive
Jesus, those animations are crazy fluid for n64 hardware, and surprisingly high fidelity model and textures to boot! And you know I'd never noticed that little bit of leading Valve did in the first chamber, showing you your "reflection" for lack of a better term.
Man, this is amazing! Subbed and sharing this. Looking forward to seeing more updates. Time to snag an everdrive for my N64.
wow that is absolutely insane ! great job!
everdrive
Just Everdrive? Lol
You are an awesome passionate programmer! I love seeing old hardware achieve their peek potential. It’s amazing just to imagine what Nintendo could have done if they kept development for the console, but you… it’s something beyond that. Keep the good work!
Animal Crossing is a good example of that. I never knew until recently that it originally released for the N64 in Japan and then was immediately refactored for the GameCube and released worldwide. The visual difference is minimal and it definitely looks like a high-end N64 game. With all the development we're getting for homebrew tech, it looks like we may finally get to see what can really be done with it, and not just in little isolated demos.
I struggle with learning stuff, so I don’t know if I’ll _Everdrive_ … I’ll see myself out.
In all seriousness, this is incredibly impressive. De-makes are always super impressive is because most games are made because of the capabilities of the hardware they are built on, so seeing something scaled down to function on older hardware is always fascinating.
Also, out of curiosity, in more of a speculative sense, what kind of impact do you think the release of a game like Portal would have had, if it had come out during the time of the N64? What would that mean for development, and the tools and techniques that people would have used?
Really enjoy the fact that you're taking the time to explain all of these problems that you come across while making this project, and how you solve them for it to work! Everdrive
Lovin these videos and the fact that the TH-cam algorithm is actually showing them to me. Keep up the great work!
Everdrive
Love your work, keep it up!
I have a couple of flashcarts for SNES and GB, GBA, but seeing that there are some that you can use to debug code on-hardware seems insanely useful. Probabbly don't have that much time and dedication to port something as complex as portal to N64, but I'd like to tip my toes into N64 development. So I'd love to have that Everdrive.
That Everdrive having a USB port for bidirectional communication with your dev machine is awesome! Reminded me that I had been considering rendering data to a small section of the screen to enable the Ocarina of Time Randomizer to export information, e.g. to update an automatic item tracker, in an emulator-agnostic way. Of course, it would only be unidirectional.
Debugging on embedded systems can be such a challenge. It's awesome following your progress and seeing what you've been able to create.
Just got an N64 and learnt how to code C recently, I should get myself an everdrive (plus real carts are rare). Very interesting stuff you've done here - I wonder what else could be put onto the N64?
Ah, i've been wanting an Everdrive , so happy to enter the contest! That aside, can you explain how the animations work if they're not keyframe based? I got into lightly into 3d software around a decade ago, back when a lot of the introductory resources still focused on 2d texture, height, etc maps, keyframe animations and IK or triangle weight rigging, etc, and it seems like the entire workflow is different now and those things aren't really used much anymore?
I could have explained that better. I just store the pose of every bone each frame. I still animate using keyframes, the keyframes are just interpolated ahead of time and stored as one giant chunk. They key advantage to the new system is I can jump to any frame immediately since I know how much memory each frame takes. (offset_in_memory = sizeof_of_frame * frame_index)
Really cool project! Portal is hands-down my fave game ever. And thanks for the Everdrive giveaway too :D
Thanks for explaining some of the tools and workflow used for this sort of project. Everdrive
I didn’t know you could live debug with an Everdrive, that’s amazing! Now I wanna learn how to develop too! Thanks for the videos!
The everdrive has enabled so many great experiences and development opportunites, I swear. Best of luck to everyone!
I'm gonna watch the video and then comment everdrive, I have patience.
Edit: I do realize the irony.
I've been following your project and it's just wicked kewl. Thanks Everdrive as well. Love my growing N64 collection and would be nice to have a drive as well.
This is the first time i see a live demonstration of someone attaching a debugger to an N64 via an everdrive. Some serious impressive stuff to see that this is possible, next to the also impressive project you're working on.
Maybe in a few years, when my kids are bigger and not snotmonsters anymore, I hope to give this a try.
During college I wanted to develop a game project that would run on N64 hardware, but never had the time to take on that project alongside my other classes. Now that I’ve graduated I’d absolutely love to be able to do that, and the Everdrive (plus your other suggested tools and advice) is a huge step forward in that direction. I’ve kept up with your Portal64 development in the past month or two now, and it’s been amazing to see what you can achieve on-console!
Imagine getting portalled an Everdrive.
Oh well. Love the collision implementation from the previous episode, well done with getting a rigged model even rendering on N64 in the first place.
I think the limbs and neck, you could probably save texture memory by making those fades out of vertex colours instead of models, but considering the generally low variety of textures Portal's chambers utilize, that might, might not be worth the tradeoff. Just an idea, hope you have fun making most of this project.
Amazing video as always! Been wanting an Everdrive for such a long time to experience N64 on real hardware, but the price is crazy. Whether I win or not, always love watching your videos.
Assuming your graph is fully connected, I'm wondering if there's an application of Dijkstra's/A* that might work for picking short (albeit not guaranteed optimal) paths? In my head, from a given starting vertex, label each vertex with it's hop/edge count from that vertex, keeping track of the current maximum vertex and skipping any previously visited vertices (this may generate multiple maximum vertices; this is only heuristic so the first found maximum of a given value is sufficient). Use Dijkstra's/A* to find the shortest path between the starting vertex and the resulting "maximum hop" vertex. Store that part of the traversal, removing all used vertices. Repeat this algorithm from the beginning (recompute hop/edge count, ...) from that end vertex against only the remaining vertices, until all vertices are consumed. Essentially, "hop distance" is the heuristic here; if there's a "straight line" distance equivalent for your graph that would perform better. Also, "everdrive" :)
This video is really cool, I think the community around the Everdrive and homebrew in general fascinating.
Everdrive. And wow, don't know why the algorithm decided to show me this video today but I'm sure glad it did, super impressive work!
This is so rad. Good luck with the project! I would love to try this on real hardware with an everdrive some day!
Honestly flash cats like Everdrive make homebrew WAY more feasible than it ever was, not to mention being able to just select what you want from a menu instead of swapping carts. I think that Everdrive can even emulate a GameShark, too.
Portal64 is extremely impressive given the hardware, and would have blown my child mind even more than PC portal did my young adult mind. Can't imagine trying to write software for the 64 using the old Silicon Graphics workstations used for that. Being able to use a modern PC has to go quite a ways.
Love the discussion of classic algorithm use in game dev. Would love to have an everdrive to try my hand at it :)
Everdrive! Such Great work you’re doing :D
Cool to see this dev setup. I've been looking into my options for finishing a cancelled N64 port of Frogger 2, so this series is right up my alley.
Take this comment as my entry into the Everdrive giveaway, if I win I'll use it to assist finish the port.
I've read all about the Everdrive and other console equivalents... coming upon a video about a game series I am passionate about learning about on a system that I also enjoy is truly something crazy.
That EVERDRIVE sponsorship was really unexpected.
Jokes aside, really admire your work and skill. Can't wait for your next update video or even the release of the game. :)
Another great milestone! well done!!
Man, if demaking an entire game from the late 2000s on hardware from the mid 90s where a drive, it would be a long one. Now, if that hardware also had the storage limitations of the N64 carterage, that my friend, would be an Everdrive.
This is my first time seeing your videos! Keep up the great work and best of luck with all your projects!
Oh yeah and everdrive xd may aswell join the giveaway :)
Been following this project for a while now. I had no idea you used everdrive. That's really an incredible tool. I'd love to see what I could do with one someday. Keep up the awesome work!
This is so impressive, really looking forward to it when I finally have an Everdrive!
Crazy awesome project. Been building up my n64 library and would love to add an everdrive to the collection 😊
That Everdrive thing is actually sick. I wish I had heard about this kind of stuff sooner since I've always wondered how people make games for older systems.
I had no idea about the gb emulator for the Everdrive, thanks for plugging yourself, haha. Your talent keeps on impressing!
Holy shit when i seen it a few years ago i thought that was it but damn you've done so much!
This is so awesome. Gonna be following this closely
I’d love an Everdrive, I started learning C in one of my classes as a CS major and loved it. I dream of one day going into game development. I love the N64 and have a small collection, but it would be so cool to be able to make my own games for it.
Nice work! Been following this for a while and I love seeing the progress. (also, I wouldn't mind that everdrive)
The KISS solution is to not take the travelling salesman route to solve this.
Step 1: Apply all the transformations to the vertex list(mesh) for the animation.
Step 2: Load the necessary texture.
Step 3: Load the corresponding triangle list.
Step 4: Draw the triangles.
Step 5: Go to step 2 until you have rendered the entire model.
Portal64 seems like such a crazy project, there are developers who make their games feel like they're being ran on retro consoles, much respect to them, but then there are developers like you who make games on the actual hardware is so insane to me. Much much respect, keep up the good work.
I would love to have an everdrive, playing n64 games on emulators unfortunately still isn't 100% perfect, but this would be a great addition to my collection.
I love romhacking and have wanted an everdrive to work direct on hardware for a while, but the cost has been hard to justify. Great work on the animation system (:
I have a Mega Everdrive Pro (for Sega Mega Drive/Genesis) and it is awesome, I have a relative who got an old N64 and is slowly buying the peripherals to get it working but these things are too expensive in our country. She would be so happy to have an Everdrive for the N64, it would be an amazing gift
You are doing such an amazing job ! Your EverDrive giveaway looks promising to start working on NES project nowadays !
I'm glad they're still making and selling the Everdrive! Pretty expensive, but for it for anyone interested in investing in this console.
Since you're making these videos more accessible, I think it would be good to do a "Top [x] Features I'd Like in Future N64 Software." Something along the lines of the audio engine and XM player that was added to LibDragon a bit ago, or some retro-optimized anti-aliasing method. You have the insight to make informed suggestions and it could get some wheels spinning in the community.
For Chel, I know your "mesh optimization problem" is more related to transforms (that's what it sounds like, anyway), but how about full model symmetry to reduce poly count? Both the model and texture are already symmetrical, but I'm not sure if any N64 code is tailored to asymmetrically transform mirrored/instanced geometry in a single object. If you're already doing that, that would be cool.
It's pretty cool to see the development community for N64 games is still around, especially through the help of modern tools like the everdrive. Lot of passion and care goes into stuff like that, and it's really awesome to see it running on real hardware
My son and I have been watching the development of your Portal 64 homebrew port. We have been loving the content so far and can't wait to see where this project takes you. #EVERDRIVE64
Wow, that Everdirve cart is really cool. Never seen n64 development before, so I'm not sure what already existed, but seeing you debug an n64 game in VS code was wild.
love you showing your process of development on the Everdrive. Thanks for sharing!
honestly this is the coolest shit ever, one on of my friends is a BIG game collector and this would blow his mind. everdrive
I joined the Smash Remix team earlier this year and it's been fun hacking/developing for the N64. I didn't know the Everdrive could be used for debugging like that.
Love Portal 64 and I always look forward to your updates. Gonna download it now and try it out!
I've been using a Gameboy Everdrive for several years. Tempted to get the updated version, as a few have come out in that time. Would love to have this for N64 too.
You're doing amazing work and it's great to see Chell in her in-game form. Keep up the great work, can't wait to see what the new year brings for the project too! 😁
Everdrive!! Developing for the n64 sounds like a fun challenge :)
Would be pretty awesome to play this on my actual N64, if only I had an everdrive ; 3
But for real it's been amazing to see the progress of this. Portal is my favorite game, and I really really love your clear explanations on how you're doing things and it makes me want to try N64 development myself! I guess that might be another use for an everdrive, but I could also always emulate
Excited to see the next update!
it's cool that everdrive gave you an extra unit. Love the project I've been following every video. I have a friend that watches too and every time a new video comes out I tell her it's portal 64 time
"So, if we can solve the traveling salesman problem"
I laughed way too hard at that joke.
It's amazing to see how much goes into making complex mechanics on such old hardware!
(Everdrive)
Nice space stuff! Are you excited about the new Artemis missions?
I had no idea the Everdrive would let you hook up a debugger. Krikzz is a treasure and we're lucky to have him.
i didn't know they made an Everdrive with a USB port, it seems really useful that it allows you to do live debugging. They know their audience, I guess.
The everdrive. My holy grail.
Coding new games with old software alongside modern techniques makes you think about how different the gaming market would be today if hardware development was slower and let devs have more time to get used to the architecture of each console. Also, the Everdrive cartridge looks awesome, I'd definitely love to have the whole lineup haha.
Spectacular and fascinating work here as always. Could definitely use an everdrive myself
I've been following this homebrew for a while and it's been incredibly impressive. As an N64 hacker (without an Everdrive sadly), it's justifying to see you overcome a lot of the struggles that the N64 and computer science in general set up for you. Keep up the good work!!!
Hey! It's been a while since I noticed this project and its so impressive to see! I think the Everdrive shines brightest when used to play ROM hacks, Homebrews or really niche and innovative ideas like this. I love seeing how far a developer can take such limited resources.
Hey I loved this video, and I love what you're doing. Keep up the good work. I would absolutely love an Everdrive.
Everdrive
Keep up the amazing work. I love watching your updates on Portal 64
everdrive!
been following the project for a while, it looks awesome! I'd use the everdrive to play this game once it's fully released!
Everdrive
Would really love to give this game a try, and I've been meaning to pick up some Ever drives for a few years now!
I had no idea everdrive had such neat features! I had just assumed you were emulating the whole time and testing on real hardware after major development milestones
I was just thinking “man I should get an everdrive at some point“ then you said you were giving one away!
Kriklz did an amazing job on the everdrive . I love how developers can actually use it to code new games for the N64 didn't even know you can debug using it thought it was only for uploading roms!
I'm a huge fan of Portal and the N64, so it would be amazing to score an Everdrive and get to experience this project on original hardware.
Even though it was before my time N64 has always been one of my favorite consoles! Having an Everdrive would be cool.