Ultra 64 [Code name: Project Reality] (1993-1994) Review and comparison with DC hardware

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Poll: What do you think about Ultra 64 ?

1-A great project that deserves to be ported/emulated
1
100%
2-A very old and forgotten
0
No votes
3-Not interested in Ultra 64
0
No votes
Total votes: 1

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Ro Magnus Larsson
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Posts: 795

Ultra 64 [Code name: Project Reality] (1993-1994) Review and comparison with DC hardware

Post#1 » Mon Mar 14, 2022 12:50 am

Ultra 64 Arcade system [Nintendo Code name: Project Reality 1993-1994] Review and comparison with DC hardware

I just was reviewing this Nintendo/Rare Ware Arcade project from 1993-1994 that caused sensation at the time with the games Killer Instinct asking myself why was not yet ported or emulated in some home consoles of the next generations.

Nintendo_Ultra_64_1995.png
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This arcade system was developed exclusively for releasing the Arcade game Killer Instinct.* Through the years, and for home gaming interest, one of the most interesting thing done around this Arcade system is that years later it was unofficially created an Ultra 64 exclusive emulator for Windows that works fine in old computers (U64emu by RCP & Negative64 http://caesar.logiqx.com/php/emulator.php?id=u64emu ) but its hardware requirements are high respect to original Ultra 64 Arcade system specifications which are not too high! and if we think about that time (1993-1994) Arcade hardwares were not very powerful compared to a few years later home console releases, and this is not an exception.

So, in the interest of the first question, I was searching the original Ultra 64 CPU specs and its main processor "R4600". It is not easy to find information about Ultra 64 arcade hardware, so after a hard searching on the net today one can find this:

Ultra 64 Arcade system:
-Processor MIPS CPU "R4600" 100Mhz (Code "Orion") [https://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/R4600/index.html]
-Memory Cache 16Kb. Two-ways "Ser-associated cache"
-Architecture support 32-bits till 64-bits. Video quality 144p
-Sound: ADSP2150, 4Mb. uses DCS DSP for Music y sounds (DSP ASE is an optional extension for MIPS 32-Bits/MIPS 64-Bits 133-MIPS CPU created by Rare Ware & Midway)
-SRAM 256kb

I personally have the Ultra64 emulator in a old 2006 PC with 256Mb RAM (where its Windows XP OS takes big percentage from) and it works at real speed, very fine, no freezing, no bugs. (Here is another user that confirms my experience: https://sgoarcade.blogspot.com/2015/06/ ... .html?lr=1)

Second, as I titled this post the aim was compare the Ultra 64 hardware specs with SH-4 Dreamcast one. But what should we compare it with? Emulator specs or original Ultra 64 arcade system? I am not a developer or coder but I guess this question should be answered depending on what we think a more feasible work to do if we see a future project on DC. I understand if we think about a port/conversion we need the Nintendo SRC that at this time, today 2022, seems still not available or discovered.

So, for those interested in Ultra 64, emulation would be a more feasible project, having already an arcade Ultra 64 emulator done with low specs. But like me and any regular user here can observe are two problems: The Ultra 64 emulator that has higher specs for emulating than the original arcade.

So one can suppose a lot of optimizing work on here but for supposing this, one needs to know the way to see how Windows hardware the U64emu really takes to work fine (I personally do not know how). And second, the hard coding work to make it work on Dreamcast. Maybe developers can see or post other problems than these that break a possible DC project.

So, depending on what way a project takes, we have to see Ultra 64 arcade/emulator compared to Dreamcast hardware. Our console was released 4 or 5 years later, so we have a more powerfull hardware in many aspects. But, of course, they are not enough to make a port. Lets take a review of some differences:

Comparative Dreamcast Hardware vs Ultra 64 hardware:
-DC SH-4 Processor doubles Ultra 64 speed/frecuency: 200Mhz
-MIPS 1: Is a 32-Bits architecture
-DC SH4 and Ultra64 processor R4600 uses both RISC system, MIPS and DSP
-DC sound 2Mb / Ultra64 R4600 4Mb
-DC is 64-Bit floating-point unit
-DC: Fixed-point performance: 360 MIPS
-DC Floating-point performance: 1.4 GFLOPS


Of couse all these specs info is not enough to make it work as possible emulation, but I think it is a base to start thinking the Ultra64 arcade system's hardware is not so poweful for DC.

This system created exclusively for Killer Instinct game was, and is, a sensation even today so any project to port or emulate at home consoles would not be a waste of time if one thinks about results. In fact, we have recents ports in the latest home consoles. We have that in 2013 it was released Killer Instinct arcade ports for Xbox One console called Killer Instinct Classic based on KI v1.4 and v1.5D original versions adding some more options by Microsoft (https://www.eurogamer.es/articles/2013- ... -versiones). We can suppose that this features were added because Xbox One hardware is of course much more powerful than Ultra 64.



*A Nintendo 64 home console released was officially planned but finally never released, instead of that it was released the poor SNES version
Ro Magnus
Argentina.-

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