libretro/emulators/mupen64plus.yml

emulator: "Mupen64Plus"
type: standalone
core_classification: official_port
source: "https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-ui-console"
upstream: "https://github.com/mupen64plus/mupen64plus-core"
profiled_date: "2026-10-22"
source_commit: "c8ac4862a019d7885b24927d9b4db5dd3e42a528"
upstream_commit: "6dca4c15370ac3e2171ce7b31426695f8f39b460"
upstream_frozen: "AmberELEC builds the core at this revision with the front end at source_commit. Later core commits are not part of that build."
core_version: "2.6.0"
display_name: "Nintendo - Nintendo 64 (Mupen64Plus)"
cores:
  - "mupen64plus"
  - "mupen64plussa"
  - "mupen64plus-sa"
systems:
  - nintendo-64
  - nintendo-64dd
mode: standalone

notes: |
  The mupen64plus program is the console front end, which loads the
  mupen64plus-core library and four plugins. AmberELEC builds the front end at
  c8ac4862 and the core at 6dca4c15 with the rice and glide64mk2 video, hle RSP,
  sdl input and sdl audio plugins, and EmuELEC builds the same set at older
  revisions (front end 32e27344, core 57828d93), whose media loader, IPL format
  check and ROM database lookup read the same files. Both build the core with
  USE_GLES=1, which turns the OpenGL on-screen display off.
  ref: AmberELEC packages/games/emulators/mupen64plussa/mupen64plussa-core/package.mk:5,13,
       EmuELEC packages/sx05re/emulators/mupen64plussa/mupen64plussa-core/package.mk:5,
       upstream projects/unix/Makefile:374-388

  Cartridge boot needs no boot ROM. The PIF boot sequence is simulated and the
  CIC-NUS-6105 challenge is answered by an algorithm rather than a stored table.
  ref: upstream src/device/pif/bootrom_hle.c:48,
       upstream src/device/r4300/interrupt.c:445,496,
       upstream src/device/pif/n64_cic_nus_6105.c:93

  64DD: the front end holds one IPL path and one disk path, the 64DD section's
  IPL-ROM and Disk keys, both empty by default and set by --dd-ipl-rom and
  --dd-disk. It reads them back from mupen64plus.cfg when the core asks and
  leaves the core's region callback empty, so whichever image the key names is
  loaded whatever region the disk carries. The core asks for the IPL only after
  a disk loads, reads it whole and byteswaps it after identifying its first
  word as 0x80270740 (z64), 0x40072780 (n64) or 0x27804007 (v64). Any other
  value, or a missing file, disables 64DD and the cartridge runs alone.
  ref: src/main.c:321-322, src/main.c:729-737, src/main.c:803-892,
       upstream src/main/main.c:1183-1248, upstream src/main/main.c:1719-1735
  AmberELEC's mupen64plus.cfg sets IPL-ROM to "" and its m64p.sh passes no
  64DD option, and its n64 system lists no disk extension, so 64DD is never
  reached there. EmuELEC's m64p.sh passes --dd-ipl-rom when <game>.ndd sits
  beside the cartridge, pointing at bios/Mupen64plus/N64DD IPLROM (J).n64, else
  bios/Mupen64plus/IPL.n64.
  ref: AmberELEC packages/games/emulators/mupen64plussa/mupen64plussa-core/config/mupen64plus-RG351V.cfg:4-9,
       AmberELEC packages/games/emulators/mupen64plussa/mupen64plussa-core/m64p.sh:102-112,
       EmuELEC packages/sx05re/emulators/mupen64plussa/mupen64plussa-core/m64p.sh:16,65-77,94-99

  Transfer Pak carts come from the Transferpak keys GB-rom-1 to GB-rom-4 and
  their GB-ram counterparts, read the same way. The core fixes no name, size or
  hash for them, so neither the cart nor its save carries an entry here.
  ref: src/main.c:856-872, upstream src/main/main.c:1452-1478

  Shared data files are searched in --datadir, then the core's SharedDataPath,
  then /usr/local/share/mupen64plus, /usr/share/mupen64plus and the working
  directory. The packages install the core's data directory and each plugin's
  .ini there.
  ref: upstream src/api/config.c:1610-1624, upstream src/osal/files_unix.c:43-48,
       upstream src/osal/files_unix.c:150-170

  Optional content with no canonical artifact: hi-res texture packs read by
  rice and glide64mk2 from the user data directory. Written rather than
  obtained: mupen64plus.cfg, the mempak, eeprom, flashram and sram saves given
  default content when absent, the 64DD disk save, savestates and screenshots.
  ref: upstream src/main/main.c:1709-1712

files:
  - name: "64DD_IPL_JP.n64"
    aliases: ["64DD_IPL_v12_JPN.bin"]
    system: nintendo-64dd
    required: true
    unread_on: [amberelec]
    description: "64DD IPL ROM (Japanese retail)"
    note: "The image every commercially released disk needs. No name is fixed by the code: the path comes from the IPL-ROM key or --dd-ipl-rom. Read whole, then byteswapped after identifying the first word as z64, n64 or v64. Size is not checked and no hash is computed."
    source_ref: "src/main.c:321, src/main.c:729-732, src/main.c:874-877, upstream src/main/main.c:1183-1248"

  - name: "64DD_IPL_US.n64"
    aliases: ["64DD_IPL_USA.bin", "IPL_USA.n64"]
    system: nintendo-64dd
    required: true
    unread_on: [amberelec]
    description: "64DD IPL ROM (American retail)"
    note: "Needed for a disk whose system data carries the US region word. The front end holds one IPL path and leaves the region callback empty, so this image is loaded by putting it in the same key. Same load path and format check as the Japanese image."
    source_ref: "src/main.c:874-892, upstream src/main/main.c:1183-1248"

  - name: "64DD_IPL_DEV.n64"
    aliases: ["64DD_IPL_DEV.bin", "IPL_DEV.n64"]
    system: nintendo-64dd
    required: true
    unread_on: [amberelec]
    description: "64DD IPL ROM (development)"
    note: "Needed for a disk whose system data carries the development region word. Shares the single IPL key with the other two images. Same load path and format check."
    source_ref: "src/main.c:874-892, upstream src/main/main.c:1183-1248"

  - name: "mupen64plus.ini"
    system: nintendo-64
    required: false
    bundled: true
    size: 449082
    sha1: "37b26dbe0df63c2887f958978e1638e2ddead1bc"
    description: "ROM database"
    note: "Per ROM save type, player count, rumble and counter settings, looked up by MD5 or CRC. Absent, the core logs an error and runs every ROM on defaults."
    source_ref: "upstream src/main/rom.c:590-604"

  - name: "mupencheat.txt"
    system: nintendo-64
    required: false
    bundled: true
    size: 1272116
    sha1: "f8b083f6a5a9ef4a28957792ca65d7b50f7af1bd"
    description: "Cheat code database"
    note: "Read by the front end for the ROM's section when --cheats is given. Absent, a warning is logged and no cheat is offered."
    source_ref: "src/cheat.c:33, src/cheat.c:202-216, src/cheat.c:346-367, src/main.c:1040-1041"

  - name: "font.ttf"
    system: nintendo-64
    required: false
    bundled: true
    size: 65932
    sha1: "1d7f6fa0c34e3d50be52c16a0816bebac309fe41"
    description: "On-screen display font"
    note: "Opened by the core's OpenGL on-screen display, which a USE_GLES=1 build leaves out."
    source_ref: "upstream src/osd/osd.c:40, upstream src/osd/osd.c:227, upstream projects/unix/Makefile:377-388"

  - name: "InputAutoCfg.ini"
    system: nintendo-64
    required: false
    bundled: true
    size: 51631
    sha1: "c71834f8e0749ba28135cefbec370a8ac6b3c26c"
    description: "Controller auto-configuration database of the sdl input plugin"
    note: "Matched against the SDL joystick name to fill the controller mapping."
    source_ref: "mupen64plus-input-sdl src/autoconfig.c:196-218"

  - name: "RiceVideoLinux.ini"
    system: nintendo-64
    required: false
    bundled: true
    size: 23195
    sha1: "7299996b11d37dd644d8c01adeb04fae15352983"
    description: "Per ROM settings of the rice video plugin"
    source_ref: "mupen64plus-video-rice src/Config.cpp:38, mupen64plus-video-rice src/Config.cpp:933-945"

  - name: "Glide64mk2.ini"
    system: nintendo-64
    required: false
    bundled: true
    size: 17454
    sha1: "523de4d0c142bc112a7d94df26c0fe42a049d581"
    description: "Per ROM settings of the glide64mk2 video plugin"
    note: "PluginStartup returns M64ERR_FILES without it, so the glide64mk2 renderer does not start."
    source_ref: "mupen64plus-video-glide64mk2 src/Glide64/Main.cpp:1580-1591, mupen64plus-video-glide64mk2 src/Glide64/Ini.cpp:134-216"