Better to just buy GOG version?

[M O N K E Y S O U N D ™]

So in anticipation for the new game I'm going back to play some of the old ones and there seems to be an agreement that GOG had the better version of this particular one, is it still the case and should I grab a copy from them or can I patch the game myself?

[dprog1995]

There are also some that prefer the Nintendo 64 version. You can play that one with en emulator.

[Colossal_Badger]

In my experience, GOG's has the easier to deal with video settings and aspect ratio fixes; however, the Steam version had way more responsive controller options.
I tried for hours to get EVERY controller in my house to work on the GOG version and not a single one would allow me to remap it. It would recognize them, and some controls would be automatically mapped to certain buttons, but never enough to be even remotely playable. I tried EVERY controller preset as well as trying to make my own, but NONE would register any new key mappings. I then gave up and just tried to map the keyboard to more comfortable/playable controls, but even that wouldn't work.
I gave up on the GOG version, and the Steam version (despite getting a LITTLE more headway on the controller mapping) still didn't work out with any controller, including a Steam Controller. Thankfully, the Steam version worked pretty seamlessly with remapping the keyboard which is what I eventually did. I'm still trying to work out how to get the controller to work, and if anyone has any suggestions or experience I am ALL EARS! I tried a Steam Controller, a Switch/PC wireless controller with a dongle, a DIFFERENT Switch/PC wired controller, a PC/N64 wireless controller, AND an Xbox One controller. NONE worked.
I would love to play this or the GOG version with a controller.
The opening menu for the Steam version also seemed to have more options, although all of those options are accessible in the GOG version through the in-game menu.
Despite the Aspect ratio switch actually working on the GOG version, it didn't play nice with my OBS as it screwed my entire second monitor up, whereas the Steam version seemed to work a lot nicer ;-;
IDK man, at this point I feel like you just gotta try both and see which one works better for you, at least they're only $4

[Bene Kenobi]

I own both versions. GOG's crashed on boot up and needed an extra .dll file to work. Steam's worked out of the box for me. But I imagine it will vary depending on the pc in question.
I will second dprog1995 and say the N64 is by far the better option thanks to its UI and control scheme enhancements. You can get it to work through Retroarch's N64 plugin.

[Bene Kenobi]

Originally posted by Colossal_Badger:

Thankfully, the Steam version worked pretty seamlessly with remapping the keyboard which is what I eventually did.

I'm curious, how did you manage to remap the keybindings? I've been trying for a while now, but even when I create a new control profile, I can't find a way to edit anything.

[Rugster]

Originally posted by Bene Kenobi:

Originally posted by Colossal_Badger:

Thankfully, the Steam version worked pretty seamlessly with remapping the keyboard which is what I eventually did.

I'm curious, how did you manage to remap the keybindings? I've been trying for a while now, but even when I create a new control profile, I can't find a way to edit anything.

you go into the control option then select your controller and select edit and then save it. im using a logitech controller that get recognized as an xbox controller.

I just got the n64 version to work on retroarch too. I liked the quicker climbing and modern control with the analog stick but the pc version looks so much better with the textures, facial animations and higher poly figures. retroarch gives me poping sound and some slowdown even on modest resolution. I have a pretty beefy rig too. can I ask what your settings are? as much as I prefer the pc version I have to battle it crashing a ton

[Bene Kenobi]

Originally posted by Rugster:

Originally posted by Bene Kenobi:

retroarch gives me poping sound and some slowdown even on modest resolution. I have a pretty beefy rig too. can I ask what your settings are? as much as I prefer the pc version I have to battle it crashing a ton

I encountered two major slowdowns/frame drops while playing. They happened during the first shootout against the Soviets in Babylon (right after the cutscene that introduces Volovnikov) and then when fighting the Mech bossfight in the latter half of the game. I've seen these framedrops also occur in gameplay captured on original hardware, so I think it's an inherent flaw of the port, and I'm not sure if it can be fixed.

Here are my settings/Core Options, though. I hope they are useful.

Core: Mupen64Plus (Although, iirc, this is the only N64 core available for Retroarch.)
RDP Plugin = GLideN64
CPU Core = Pure Interpreter
RSP Plugin = HLE
Frame Duplication = ON
Framerate = Fullspeed
VI Refresh (Overclock) = Auto

I literally only use Retroarch to play this game, so I'm not that savy when it comes to all the settings available, but those are the most important ones that I remember tweaking back in the day. So I don't know how to help with the popping audio, unfortunately. But I can say my game doesn't suffer from it, so maybe it's related to the settings shared above.

[Rugster]

Originally posted by Bene Kenobi:

Originally posted by Rugster:

I encountered two major slowdowns/frame drops while playing. They happened during the first shootout against the Soviets in Babylon (right after the cutscene that introduces Volovnikov) and then when fighting the Mech bossfight in the latter half of the game. I've seen these framedrops also occur in gameplay captured on original hardware, so I think it's an inherent flaw of the port, and I'm not sure if it can be fixed.

Here are my settings/Core Options, though. I hope they are useful.

Core: Mupen64Plus (Although, iirc, this is the only N64 core available for Retroarch.)
RDP Plugin = GLideN64
CPU Core = Pure Interpreter
RSP Plugin = HLE
Frame Duplication = ON
Framerate = Fullspeed
VI Refresh (Overclock) = Auto

I literally just used Retroarch to play this game, so I'm not that savy when it comes to all the settings available, but those are the most important ones that I remember tweaking back in the day. So I don't know how to help with the popping audio, unfortunately. But I can say my game doesn't suffer from it, so maybe it's related to the settings shared above.

Thanks! ill give it a shot. are you leaving the resolution and upscaling at default? I believe cranking those up to 4k and 8x respectively is whats causing the slowdown. though my computer should be able to handle it, im thinking it might be an issue thats baked into this build of the game as you stated. shooting barrels dropped my frames to single digits for example at 1980 resolution and 4x scaling.

[Bene Kenobi]

Originally posted by Rugster:

Originally posted by Bene Kenobi:

Thanks! ill give it a shot. are you leaving the resolution and upscaling at default? I believe cranking those up to 4k and 8x respectively is whats causing the slowdown. though my computer should be able to handle it, im thinking it might be an issue thats baked into this build of the game as you stated. shooting barrels dropped my frames to single digits for example at 1980 resolution and 4x scaling.

You're welcome! TBH, I left resolution out of the list because Idk where to see my settings for that nowadays. I can tell you I upscaled the game for my 1080p display. I remember trying different resolutions because of the slowdowns, but seeing that it didn't make much difference, as you said, I decided to at least play with upscaling.

[Rugster]

Originally posted by Bene Kenobi:

Originally posted by Rugster:

You're welcome! TBH, I left resolution out of the list because Idk where to see my settings for that nowadays. I can tell you I upscaled the game for my 1080p display. I remember trying different resolutions because of the slowdowns, but seeing that it didn't make much difference, as you said, I decided to at least play with upscaling.

Quick update for you and anyone else that might stumble on this (old forums have helped me get the PC version working well enough to enjoy a full playthrough)

I got the n64 version working excellently! 4K resolution 8x internal upscaling and almost zero slowdown even in sections that tanked framerate before (the start of level 2 or shooting barrels for example) in retroarch the game seems to want to be run at 16:9 stretched for some reason. thats all I switched to and it runs almost perfectly now

I still prefer the PC version for its graphics, better audio and deeper colors but the n64 version is 90% there with its faster climbing and movement as well as its slightly more engaging combat with the lock on from zelda. the ability to roll from the PC almost ties it up even there though.

hope this helps anyone trying to play this gem in the future

[Bene Kenobi]

Originally posted by Rugster:

Originally posted by Bene Kenobi:

Quick update for you and anyone else that might stumble on this (old forums have helped me get the PC version working well enough to enjoy a full playthrough)

I got the n64 version working excellently! 4K resolution 8x internal upscaling and almost zero slowdown even in sections that tanked framerate before (the start of level 2 or shooting barrels for example) in retroarch the game seems to want to be run at 16:9 stretched for some reason. thats all I switched to and it runs almost perfectly now

I still prefer the PC version for its graphics, better audio and deeper colors but the n64 version is 90% there with its faster climbing and movement as well as its slightly more engaging combat with the lock on from zelda. the ability to roll from the PC almost ties it up even there though.

hope this helps anyone trying to play this gem in the future

That's awesome. Thanks for updating!

[Valiento]

Keep in mind n64 version is trimmed down in places and removed some of Easter egg areas.

There is also option to play in DREAMM emulator that fixes table fog but breaks the map feature…

[Rugster]

Originally posted by Valiento:

Keep in mind n64 version is trimmed down in places and removed some of Easter egg areas.

There is also option to play in DREAMM emulator that fixes table fog but breaks the map feature…

Yeah I tried the Dreamm emulator and while I appreciate his efforts to preserve these old games, I couldnt get it to run in a resolution above a low one and it appears very small on my screen

[Rugster]

Originally posted by Colossal_Badger:

In my experience, GOG's has the easier to deal with video settings and aspect ratio fixes; however, the Steam version had way more responsive controller options.
I tried for hours to get EVERY controller in my house to work on the GOG version and not a single one would allow me to remap it. It would recognize them, and some controls would be automatically mapped to certain buttons, but never enough to be even remotely playable. I tried EVERY controller preset as well as trying to make my own, but NONE would register any new key mappings. I then gave up and just tried to map the keyboard to more comfortable/playable controls, but even that wouldn't work.
I gave up on the GOG version, and the Steam version (despite getting a LITTLE more headway on the controller mapping) still didn't work out with any controller, including a Steam Controller. Thankfully, the Steam version worked pretty seamlessly with remapping the keyboard which is what I eventually did. I'm still trying to work out how to get the controller to work, and if anyone has any suggestions or experience I am ALL EARS! I tried a Steam Controller, a Switch/PC wireless controller with a dongle, a DIFFERENT Switch/PC wired controller, a PC/N64 wireless controller, AND an Xbox One controller. NONE worked.
I would love to play this or the GOG version with a controller.
The opening menu for the Steam version also seemed to have more options, although all of those options are accessible in the GOG version through the in-game menu.
Despite the Aspect ratio switch actually working on the GOG version, it didn't play nice with my OBS as it screwed my entire second monitor up, whereas the Steam version seemed to work a lot nicer ;-;
IDK man, at this point I feel like you just gotta try both and see which one works better for you, at least they're only $4

JoyToKey! for some reason when I apply the .dll crash fix it causes my controller to stop working. JoyToKey is a program that allows controller inputs be recognized as keyboard keys. Im able to use every controller I have with both GOG and the steam version.

[Bene Kenobi]

Originally posted by Valiento:

Keep in mind n64 version is trimmed down in places and removed some of Easter egg areas.

There is also option to play in DREAMM emulator that fixes table fog but breaks the map feature…

AFAIK, the N64 version is only trimmed down if you play without the expansion pak, as the King Sol's Mines level requires it. Retroarch automatically emulates the expansion pak by default, so you won't be missing anything, from what I remember as someone who played both versions. Although Easter Eggs, such as the Monkey Island room, are indeed PC exclusive.

[Sauriel]

I got this game on a future queue to play, but i've had it on cd rom once, back when i had no net. i remember it had some kind of odd gamebreaking bug later on that made you unable to attach and climb up a certain ledge after climbing down a big ladder so it stopped my ability to complete it. no doubt it required some kind of patch for it to work at the time, but i had no such luck including it with those pc gamer cd's that had patches and stuf on them