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[IbizaPocholo]

Portal Fan Makes N64 Demake

YouTuber James Lambert is working on a Nintendo 64 demake of Valve’s Portal, complete with working portals and nostalgic graphics.

gamerant.com

YouTuber James Lambert has been working on his demake of Portal for some time, showing off features of his Portal64 game running on real Nintendo 64 hardware. The Nintendo 64 is one of the most popular platforms of the fifth generation of video game consoles and was a competitor to the original PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The N64 saw the release of some incredibly popular titles, including Goldeneye, Mario 64, and Perfect Dark. Fans of the console are plentiful, and modders are working on porting many N64 games to PC. Lambert is working on quite the opposite, bringing a modern game to the N64.

Portal64 has had a few major updates over the months. Most recently, Lambert showed off a working portal in his game. Considering the title of both Valve's original classic and Lambert's demake, portals are quite the important aspect of both games, so to get them working is a huge milestone for the future of Portal64. Moreover, in his most recent update Lambert shows viewers that the physics engine of his Portal demake is in a much better state, allowing for wall and object collision.

Perhaps more striking than the details of the physics engine is the style of Portal64. The portals themselves are not a neat circle like in the original game, but are instead octagons with clear sides. The companion cubes and background of the Aperture science labs are given an N64 coat of paint too, making them look like they're assets pulled straight from the 1990s. For Portal fans who want to dig into its N64 demake, Lambert has offered the current build as a free download, but it is very much a work in progress. For any gamer looking for some more official Portal content, there will be Switch versions of Portal 1 and 2 coming later this year.

Release v0.2 · lambertjamesd/portal64

Scene collision and portals work now

github.com

 

[01011001]

so finally a game with portals on N64!

Prey, the original one not the 2017 game, was originally planned for N64.
their portal technology was some crazy concept back then. they also planned to use the same render to texture feature for real time reflections for that version

 

[Scotty W]

This confirms my theory that almost all technical advancements since 96 have been strictly superficial.

 

[Raploz]

New update video:



He can render 15(!) Portal layers with very playable framerates on real hardware!

Download link: https://github.com/lambertjamesd/portal64/releases/tag/v0.3

 

[Duchess]

I love seeing stuff like this. It's so very cool the challenges that people undertake.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Drew1440]

I'd like to see how he did the portal effect, is it similar to how Mario Kart 64 grabs the frame buffer of the screen and plants it to an texture? Apparently thats always been a perk of the N64's unified memory but I've seen a few PS1 games do that (Tekken 2 on Devil Kazaya's level, Wip3out and Bust A Groove on Hiro's stage)

 

[VN1X]

That's very cool.

 

[Raploz]

Newest update:

 

[v1oz]

This confirms my theory that almost all technical advancements since 96 have been strictly superficial.

Honestly I dont see what makes portals particularly difficult especially with a cartridge based system like the N64.

Nintendo even had working magic portals in OOT but they didn't make it into the final game. This would have been circa 1996.

 

[Raploz]

Updates to the project:

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[01011001]

nice.
while the 2 controller support is pretty useless, it's still a fun nod to Perfect Dark and Goldeney

 

[DeepEnigma]

This makes me glad Nintendo focuses on weaker (and cheaper) hardware -- some problems just require more creative solutions, not just raw power.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Amazing work. I want to see just how far he can push it towards recreating entire test chambers and their working puzzles.

 

[01011001]

Amazing work. I want to see just how far he can push it towards recreating entire test chambers and their working puzzles.

I mean he has a big chunk of the game already done.

pretty sure he wants to soon release a first chapter version with the first 10 or 11 chambers, most of them are done already.

I think at this point it's not about looking if its doable anymore, and more about how well the end product can be made


what would be amazing is if Valve would work with him to sell this version, bundled with an emulator of course, on Steam... maybe even just as a free extra to the original game.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

pretty sure he wants to soon release a first chapter version with the first 10 or 11 chambers, most of them are done already.

Wasn't aware of that, I just watched different small tech demo pieces in the videos above. Very impressive.

 

[_Ex_]

Never forget; The cake is a lie.

 

[Raven77]

There is just something about the N64 graphics that I just love. Not just nostalgia, it's the style that I like so much.

 

[diffusionx]

Unlike most of these on YouTube, the fact that this is on real hardware makes it actually worthwhile and interesting.

 

[diffusionx]

I mean he has a big chunk of the game already done.

pretty sure he wants to soon release a first chapter version with the first 10 or 11 chambers, most of them are done already.

I think at this point it's not about looking if its doable anymore, and more about how well the end product can be made


what would be amazing is if Valve would work with him to sell this version, bundled with an emulator of course, on Steam... maybe even just as a free extra to the original game.

I don’t think Valve is going to touch that with a ten foot pole lmao

 

[K2D]

This confirms my theory that almost all technical advancements since 96 have been strictly superficial.

The real advancement in development is games dreamed up by artificial intelligence! ..or Augmented Intelligence

 

[Trilobit]

It makes me wonder what kind of games there would have been now if N64/PS1 level of power was the hard limit for technology in our universe.

 

[nkarafo]

nice.
while the 2 controller support is pretty useless, it's still a fun nod to Perfect Dark and Goldeney

It's not useless at all. Because of the shape it's easy to hold and balance one controller on each hand. The feeling is similar to something like holding the joycons separated but obviously a bit more clunky.

I played a lot of Goldeneye and PD this way back in the day and it was great. Dual analog controls before anyone else.

 

[Elder Legend]

This makes me glad Nintendo focuses on weaker (and cheaper) hardware -- some problems just require more creative solutions, not just raw power.

So you are a pro long industry veteran game developer with decades of programming experience? Damn dude, proud of ya! What are you doing here bro? You could be making a lot of money with your expertise.

 

[01011001]

It's not useless at all. Because of the shape it's easy to hold and balance one controller on each hand. The feeling is similar to something like holding the joycons separated but obviously a bit more clunky.

I played a lot of Goldeneye and PD this way back in the day and it was great. Dual analog controls before anyone else.

it's very clumsy pressing any fact buttons that way.
if you use the D-Pad for movement it's way more comfortable IMO.

 

[01011001]

I don’t think Valve is going to touch that with a ten foot pole lmao

I mean, there is already an N64 emulator on Steam... Retroarch.
the Mupen64 core is included in the Steam version of Retroarch right from the start.

 

[nkarafo]

it's very clumsy pressing any fact buttons that way.
if you use the D-Pad for movement it's way more comfortable IMO.

True, but you lose the dual analog setup since d-pad can only convey a single speed. Still, it was the default method of playing FPS games on N64 for me.

Anyway, i tried this mod and it's great. Runs well and plays almost like the real thing. I wish more demakes like that existed.

 

[01011001]

True, but you lose the dual analog setup since d-pad can only convey a single speed. Still, it was the default method of playing FPS games on N64 for me.

Anyway, i tried this mod and it's great. Runs well and plays almost like the real thing. I wish more demakes like that existed.

yeah but honestly, analog movement in a shooter is overrated imo. especially one that was originally made by a PC centric company

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

It reminds me of narbacular drop. Things have come full circle!

 

[01011001]

It reminds me of narbacular drop. Things have come full circle!

It looks way better than that tho , that artstyle was the worst. I'm glad Valve brought them in and remake the whole thing.

but, the N64 was supposed to get a game with portal tech, Prey...
Prey was originally a PC and N64 title, so full circle in that regard finally a game with portals on N64