mupen64plus guide/information

[hulkenstrong]

Hi!

So since I didn't feel that Project64 worked that good with the steam controller I started looking for another "better" emulator. So mupen64plus is an actively getting updated and in general ofers good compatibility/quality.

It was not easy but I managed to get it working. Download mupen64plus and place it your preferred place. First you might have to change the video plugin from rice (you need to edit mupen64plus.cfg which can be found in C:\Users\"your username"\AppData\Roaming\Mupen64Plus). I will not go into further detail, as you need to be comfortable editing ini files/finding how to do it to make it trough this guide.

So first open up InputAutoCfg.ini with wordpad or equivalent program. At the bottom add (and save)

[USB HID]
plugged = True
plugin = 2
mouse = False
AnalogDeadzone = 4096,4096
AnalogPeak = 32768,32768
DPad R = hat(0 Right)
DPad L = hat(0 Left)
DPad D = hat(0 Down)
DPad U = hat(0 Up)
Start = button(7)
Z Trig = axis(2+)
B Button = button(3)
A Button = button(1)
C Button R = axis(3+)
C Button L = axis(3-)
C Button D = axis(4+)
C Button U = axis(4-)
R Trig = button(5)
L Trig = button(4)
Mempak switch =
Rumblepak switch =
X Axis = axis(0-,0+)
Y Axis = axis(1-,1+)

now open up mupen64plus.cfg and find the section [Input-SDL-Control1]. Make sure it look like this:

# Controller configuration mode: 0=Fully Manual, 1=Auto with named SDL Device, 2=Fully automatic
mode = 0
# Specifies which joystick is bound to this controller: -1=No joystick, 0 or more= SDL Joystick number
device = 0
# SDL joystick name (or Keyboard)
name = "USB HID"

and a bit further down make sure it looks like this:

# Digital button configuration mappings
DPad R = "hat(0 Right)"
DPad L = "hat(0 Left)"
DPad D = "hat(0 Down)"
DPad U = "hat(0 Up)"
Start = "button(7)"
Z Trig = ""axis(2+)"
B Button = "button(3)"
A Button = "button(1)"
C Button R = "axis(3+)"
C Button L = "axis(3-)"
C Button D = "axis(4+)"
C Button U = "axis(4-)"
R Trig = "button(5)"
L Trig = "button(4)"
Mempak switch = ""
Rumblepak switch = ""
# Analog axis configuration mappings
X Axis = "axis(0-,0+)"
Y Axis = "axis(1-,1+)"

Save and close. Now add mupen64plus-ui-console.exe as a non steam game and set launch options to your game/rom full path. Start steam in BPM. Configure the controller to gamepad mode. Finally run mupen64. The steam overlay should work fine for you to tweak the SC settings to your liking.

Mupen64 can be found at http://www.mupen64plus.org/

I made a very experimental launcher for mupen64plus. I am no programmer so I can not guarantee that it works for you or that it won't make your computer burn up. It needs to be placed in the same folder as mupen64plus-ui-console.exe and it looks for games/roms in the parent folder named Roms (ex \Roms\mupen64plus-bundle-win32-2.5-new-dynarec\mupen64plus-ui-console.exe).

ESC = Quit
Enter,double click starts game (or selecting and clicking Run)

http://s18.postimg.org/uvow3u5mx/N64_Game_Launcher.png

N64GameLauncher V1.0
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=2936133BCD7EFF3D!17235&authkey=!APrDKEs4FFlWBIc&ithint=file%2czip

[Yapity]

Publicado originalmente por cammelspit:

just use a gamepad template instead of a KB/M template. I would say both emulators, that is likely your problem. Is the overlay working properly?

Can you specify what you mean by Overlay? Like the steam overlay? No

[cammelspit]

Yeah, you actually HAVE to have the emulator added to Steam as a non-steam game and the overlay must be working for it to work properly, just like any other game. There are plenty of ways to make it work otherwise but that is going to be the easiest way to do it, You would only use the other methods if the normal process of adding to Steam and launching from there does not work. As I said before, Retroarch works perfectly without any fiddling or special settings to make it work so it may be your best option. What is happening is the Steam client is not switching to gamepad output so you are actually using the default KB/M desktop config here. So yeah, that is your problem right there. That having been said, regular Mupen should work but as you might be able to tell it is normally a bit fiddly to get it working properly to begin with, once you add the SC to the mix it can be somewhat of a pain but the choice is up to you.

[Yapity]

Publicado originalmente por cammelspit:

Yeah, you actually HAVE to have the emulator added to Steam as a non-steam game and the overlay must be working for it to work properly, just like any other game. There are plenty of ways to make it work otherwise but that is going to be the easiest way to do it, You would only use the other methods if the normal process of adding to Steam and launching from there does not work. As I said before, Retroarch works perfectly without any fiddling or special settings to make it work so it may be your best option. What is happening is the Steam client is not switching to gamepad output so you are actually using the default KB/M desktop config here. So yeah, that is your problem right there. That having been said, regular Mupen should work but as you might be able to tell it is normally a bit fiddly to get it working properly to begin with, once you add the SC to the mix it can be somewhat of a pain but the choice is up to you.

So I launched RetroArch from Steam's big picture mode after adding it to my steam library and it acts the same. I did get a little message at the startup about xinput, but other than that no difference.

Also when I launch a game with RetroArch the frame rate is ridiculous, the game is playing something like twice as fast and the audio is complete crap. That happens whether or not I open it with steam.

Mupen64 actually seems to be closest to working except for the fact that it crashes when I launch it with the controller configs. I'm also using Mupen64Plus as the launcher if that helps.

[cammelspit]

Well, I can't really say for sure here. As far as Mupen itself is concerned, whatever launcher you are using should, in theory, have essentially zero impact on what the emulator itself does. I normally don't use native Mupen because of the rough edges that make it hard to work with. Though, generally speaking, I prefer the separate emulators in their original form because they will be more up to date and always, without exception, perform better.

As far as RetroArch is concerned here, it has more or less always worked for me. They do break the whole app a LOT though or make certain cores unstable. Make sure to redownload the newest version first. Then, if you still have problems, make a second folder with a pure and clean 100% stock setup and try again. If the stock setup works then you can make an inference that there is a setting somewhere that is killing support somehow. Personally, I have never actually run into anything like that with the ability to break the overlay but it is always possible. Actually, starting fresh might be a good idea for both emulators. There is bound to be something we are missing here. Without being physically at your PC to troubleshoot it myself, it is a little hard to recommend things other than the more general steps to take.

Try to make sure all your drivers are up to date too, especially GPU drivers. There is something happening here I haven't seen before and it's just a matter of finding out what the culprit is.

[Yapity]

Thanks so much for your help, I do feel like I've gotten closer to why this isn't working. Since my last post I tried to fire up SOMA to just play something else since 64 wasn't working and my computer crashed just the way it did when I tried to run mupen64 so I figure it must be something with my specific computer. :/

I'm going to give it up for now until I scrounge up the cash for a new computer. I seriously need one.

[cammelspit]

Well, instead of just tossing it out, you can still get it working. Long before you trash the PC, you should try and reinstall the OS from scratch. That essentially fixes everything that isn't a hardware problem. If you are using Windows8.1/10, there is even an OS reset button that does essentially that. Get a big old USB hard drive, back everything up you can't afford to lose and wipe that baby. I would be willing to put money on it that you will have a working PC by then. Now, you may still need to upgrade depending on the PCs age and all that but it could buy you another 6 months or a year of something that works rather than something that is being flakey. Though, TBH, you normally can fix things without reinstalling the OS if you can figure out what the actual issue may be. I have seen everything from viruses to even just a dirty CPU or GPU cooler cause stuff like that, through overheating. So, don't give up that easy! It is annoying, yes but probably worth a shot.

Good Luck!

[Yapity]

Publicado originalmente por cammelspit:

Well, instead of just tossing it out, you can still get it working. Long before you trash the PC, you should try and reinstall the OS from scratch. That essentially fixes everything that isn't a hardware problem. If you are using Windows8.1/10, there is even an OS reset button that does essentially that. Get a big old USB hard drive, back everything up you can't afford to lose and wipe that baby. I would be willing to put money on it that you will have a working PC by then. Now, you may still need to upgrade depending on the PCs age and all that but it could buy you another 6 months or a year of something that works rather than something that is being flakey. Though, TBH, you normally can fix things without reinstalling the OS if you can figure out what the actual issue may be. I have seen everything from viruses to even just a dirty CPU or GPU cooler cause stuff like that, through overheating. So, don't give up that easy! It is annoying, yes but probably worth a shot.

Good Luck!

I just reinstalled the OS not even a month ago :/ It's a laptop as well, so there's only so much I can do hardware wise. It was a mid-range laptop when I bought it and it's over 5 years old now. It's sad but I don't think I can get much more out of this baby.

[cammelspit]

Sorry to hear you are having so many problems with it. At least I tried.

[Yapity]

Publicado originalmente por cammelspit:

Sorry to hear you are having so many problems with it. At least I tried.

:( I apprecate it. Once I get a new computer I'll try to set up Mupen64 and/or RetroArch again and let you guys know how it went.

[Driesy]

Thanks for this guide! I used this to get my Dualshock4 working.

Anyone know how to get multiple controllers working this way?

[MichaelJ]

I tried to use hulkenstrong and Sazo's configs, but did not have success. I found a way to get the controller working for mupen64plus, and I thought I'd share my steps in case someone else finds them useful.

I will not post config files, because I believe part of why hulkenstrong and Sazo's answers do not work for me are because Steam's API, as well as the SDL API, are evolving constantly, and so these configurations naturally fall into obsolescence. Instead, I will offer a guide, with references to software I used to configure my controller with success.

Warning: I am on a mac, and I don't guarantee success on other platforms; in fact, I don't guarantee success on any platform, or for anyone else other than myself. I don't know of a reason why my instructions wouldn't work, however, on Windows or on Linux.

As of writing this post, Steam on macos makes the controller available to other programs, even while not running in Big Picture Mode. I did not have to find a way to run mupen64plus in BPM for this setup, I simply had to run the steam mac client, and the controller had to be turned on and connected to Steam.

Step 1 - Controller Setup in Steam
Go into Big Picture Mode, and navigate to Settings -> Controller -> Base Configurations -> Desktop Configuration. Then, select "browse configs" at the bottom. Select Templates on the right, and choose "Gamepad". Export the template as a personal config. For making changes, choose whatever you prefer. I recommend keeping the template, and only disabling buttons like the buttons on the rear of the controller, and two of the following four: a, b, x, y. Make sure this config is now your active desktop configuration.

Step 2 - Identify SDL Input Events for Steam Controller
There is a script for reading joystick events from the steam controller here: https://github.com/PisoMojado/sdl-listener
Make sure you follow the instructions for installing prerequisites.
When you are ready, run the listener, and press buttons on your Steam Controller, one at a time. You should see events displayed indicating the button ids for the pressed buttons. Write down the button id numbers one at a time with the name of the button next to it. Do the same for your joystick, and trigger buttons. These are axes, and will need to be recorded as such in mupen64plus. These button and axis numbers be the codes you use in your mupen64plus.cfg and your InputAutoCfg.ini files.

Step 3 - Customize the config files
To learn more about these mupen64plus files, please review hulkenstrong's answer, as well as the mupen64plus wiki. Replace the settings for Controller 1 inside mupen64plus.cfg with the codes for the buttons you want to use. Then, do the same in InputAutoCfg.ini. The buttons are up to you to choose. Do the same with your joystick and/or thumbpads.
One important note: Steam advertises the controller on my computer as "GamePad-1". Please be sure to note what your steam controller is displayed as, and use that name in the mupen64plus.cfg file as the name of the controller, as well as the name of the config in InputAutoCfg.ini

Step 4 - Enjoy!
I hope this helps others, but please be warned that I have not subscribed to this discussion, so I will not be notified of any questions.