More documentation can be found on the Mupen64Plus website and you can find a more complete README file on the wiki.
Mupen64Plus is based off of mupen64, originally created by Hacktarux. This package contains only the Mupen64Plus core library. For a fully functional emulator, the user must also install graphics, sound, input, and RSP plugins, as well as a user interface program (called a front-end).
- Requirements and Prerequisites - Binary - Source
- Building From Source
- Installation - Binary - Source - Custom Installation Path
- Key Commands In Emulator
Binary Package Requirements
- SDL 2
- libpng
- freetype 2
- zlib
Source Build Requirements
In addition to the binary libraries, the following packages are required if you build Mupen64Plus from source:
- GNU C and C++ compiler, libraries, and headers
- GNU make
- Nasm
- Development packages for all the libraries above
If you downloaded the binary distribution of Mupen64Plus, skip to the Installation process (Section 3). To build the source distribution, unzip and cd into the projects/unix directory, then build using make:
$ unzip mupen64plus-core-x-y-z-src.zip
$ cd mupen64plus-core-x-y-z-src/projects/unix
$ make all
Type make by itself to view all available build options:
$ make
Mupen64Plus-core makefile.
Targets:
all == Build Mupen64Plus core library
clean == remove object files
install == Install Mupen64Plus core library
uninstall == Uninstall Mupen64Plus core library
Build Options:
BITS=32 == build 32-bit binaries on 64-bit machine
LIRC=1 == enable LIRC support
NO_ASM=1 == build without assembly (no dynamic recompiler or MMX/SSE code)
USE_GLES=1 == build against GLESv2 instead of OpenGL
VC=1 == build against Broadcom Videocore GLESv2
NEON=1 == (ARM only) build for hard floating point environments
VFP_HARD=1 == (ARM only) full hardware floating point ABI
SHAREDIR=path == extra path to search for shared data files
OPTFLAGS=flag == compiler optimization (default: -O3 -flto)
WARNFLAGS=flag == compiler warning levels (default: -Wall)
PIC=(1|0) == Force enable/disable of position independent code
OSD=(1|0) == Enable/disable build of OpenGL On-screen display
NETPLAY=1 == Enable netplay functionality, requires SDL2_net
NEW_DYNAREC=1 == Replace dynamic recompiler with Ari64's experimental dynarec
KEYBINDINGS=0 == Disables the default keybindings
ACCURATE_FPU=1 == Enables accurate FPU behavior (i.e correct cause bits)
OPENCV=1 == Enable OpenCV support
VULKAN=0 == Disable vulkan support for the default video extension implementation
POSTFIX=name == String added to the name of the the build (default: '')
Install Options:
PREFIX=path == install/uninstall prefix (default: /usr/local/)
SHAREDIR=path == path to install shared data files (default: PREFIX/share/mupen64plus)
LIBDIR=path == path to install core library (default: PREFIX/lib)
INCDIR=path == path to install core header files (default: PREFIX/include/mupen64plus)
DESTDIR=path == path to prepend to all installation paths (only for packagers)
Debugging Options:
PROFILE=1 == build gprof instrumentation into binaries for profiling
DEBUG=1 == add debugging symbols to binaries
DEBUGGER=1 == build debugger API into core for front-ends. runs slower.
DBG_CORE=1 == print debugging info in r4300 core
DBG_COUNT=1 == print R4300 instruction count totals (64-bit dynarec only)
DBG_COMPARE=1 == enable core-synchronized r4300 debugging
DBG_TIMING=1 == print timing data
DBG_PROFILE=1 == dump profiling data for r4300 dynarec to data file
V=1 == show verbose compiler output
Binary Distribution
To install the binary distribution of Mupen64Plus, su to root and run the provided install.sh script:
$ su
# ./install.sh
# exit
$
The install script will copy the executable to /usr/local/bin and a directory called /usr/local/share/mupen64plus will be created to hold plugins and other files used by mupen64plus.
NOTE: By default, install.sh uses /usr/local for the install prefix. Although the user can specify an alternate prefix to install.sh at the commandline, the mupen64plus binary was compiled to look for the install directory in /usr/local, so specifying an alternate prefix to install.sh will cause problems (the mupen64plus front-end application will not find the directory containing the core library) unless the directory to which you install it is known by your dynamic library loader (ie, included in /etc/ld.conf.so)
If you want to use a prefix other than /usr/local, you may also download the source code package and build with the PREFIX option (see below).
Source Distribution
After building mupen64plus and all plugins, su to root and type make install
to install Mupen64Plus. The install process will copy the executable to
$PREFIX/bin and a directory called $PREFIX/share/mupen64plus will be created
to hold plugins and other files used by mupen64plus. By default, PREFIX is set
to /usr/local. This can be changed by passing the PREFIX option to make.
NOTE: You must pass the prefix, when building AND installing. For example, to install mupen64plus to /usr, do this:
$ make PREFIX=/usr all
$ sudo make PREFIX=/usr install
$
Custom Installation Paths
You may customize the instalation of Mupen64Plus by using the options for the install.sh script:
Usage:
install.sh [PREFIX] [SHAREDIR] [BINDIR] [LIBDIR] [MANDIR]PREFIX - installation directories prefix (default: /usr/local) SHAREDIR - path to Mupen64Plus shared data files (default: PREFIX/share/mupen64plus) BINDIR - path to Mupen64Plus binary program files (default: $PREFIX/bin) LIBDIR - path to Mupen64Plus plugin files (default: $SHAREDIR/plugins) MANDIR - path to manual files (default: $PREFIX/man/man1)
You must pass the same options to the uninstall.sh script when uninstalling in order to remove all of the Mupen64Plus files.
You should install the Mupen64Plus plugins (libraries) in their own folder. If you install them
in a common directory such as /usr/lib and then later uninstall them with
sudo uninstall.sh LIBDIR=/usr/lib, it will delete all system libraries.
If you install with SHAREDIR in a place other than /usr/local/share/mupen64plus or
/usr/share/mupen64plus, and BINDIR is not the same as SHAREDIR, then users will have to run
Mupen64Plus with the --installdir= option, otherwise they will get an error. The mupen64plus
executable looks in up to 5 different directories in order to find the Shared Data Directory.
The order in which the directories are searched is:
- directory specified on command line with
--installdir - same directory as the mupen64plus binary
- /usr/local/share/mupen64plus
- /usr/share/mupen64plus
- current working directory
If you choose to install the plugins in a non-standard location (someplace other than
$SHAREDIR/plugins), then you must set the PluginDirectory parameter in the mupen64plus.conf
config file to the directory path in which the plugins have been installed.
The keys or joystick/mouse inputs which will be mapped to the N64 controller for playing the games are determined by the input plugin. The emulator core also supports several key commands during emulation, which may be configured by editing the ~/.config/mupen64plus/mupen64plus.cfg file. They are:
- Escape (Esc) Quit the emulator
- 0-9 Select virtual 'slot' for save/load state (F5 and F7) commands
- F5 Save emulator state
- F7 Load emulator state
- F9 Reset emulator
- F10 Slow down emulator by 5%
- F11 Speed up emulator by 5%
- F12 Take screenshot
- Alt-Enter Toggle between windowed and fullscreen (may not be supported by all video plugins)
- p or P Pause on/off
- m or M Mute/unmute sound
- g or G Press "Game Shark" button (only if cheats are enabled)
- / or ? Single frame advance while paused
- F Fast Forward (playback at 250% normal speed while F key is pressed)
- [ Decrease volume
- ] Increase volume