The IS-Viewer64 was a ROM emulator for the N64 system. It used a SCSI-2 interface for fast loading times of 1 Megabyte per second which was considered extremely fast for the time. You could connect the SCSI cartridge to either a PC or a Silicon Graphics workstation, providing a real-time preview of 3D modeling work or Graphics textures.
Features
- Verify N64 ROM images.
- Download and verify a variety of information from the host computer. IS-Viewer64 puts together a library for debugging purposes and uses printf() to show you the results.
- Preview graphics characters or scenes that you=re developing for instant feedback showing how they look on an N64 system. Then you=ll be ready to fine tune your graphical elements using your graphics tools, or demo them for others.
Software
- Self-extracting installation and control
- Software on CD for easy installation
Hardware
- IS-Viewer64 Interface Pak
- Modified N64 Control Deck
AC adapter & AV cable
Debug messages embedded within the ROM source code, are detected and displayed on the interfaced development PC in real time as the game is running on the N64.
The Debug messages printed to the terminal window can also support colored text. This requires your Development workstation to support ANSI escape codes or escape sequences. On a Windows 98 PC, you simply have to make sure your config.sys file has the line “device=c:\windows\command\ansi.sys” added and saved to the file, or with the path to your systems ansi.sys file. You then simply reboot your PC and the command terminal should then support the printing of colored Text. See the embedded video BTC#45 further below for more details on the use of ANSI escape codes.
Requirements
SCSI interface board for computer system
SCSI interface cable to connect the IS-Viewer64 to a SCSI 2 card
TV set
Modified N64 Control Deck (Debugger)
One of the following computer systems:
Silicon Graphics workstation (Indy, O2, or Indigo)
Must be running IRIX 5.3, 6.2, or 6.3
64 MB of memory
20 MB of free disk space
SGI Irix “NLOAD” Software for IS-Viewer64 & 64DD – DAT Tape Backups: Tapes from: Vinyl/Don Assemblergames: Vinyl FB: www.facebook.com/consolevariations Dumped by: Scize Hosted on Ultra64.ca (See the “DDSPGAME” folder.) Download link below: https://ultra64.ca/files/software/other/isv970924.zip
PC running Windows 95
Intel 80486 or higher CPU
32 MB of memory
20 MB of free disk space
PC running Windows NT 4.0
Intel 80486 or higher CPU
40 MB of memory
20 MB of free disk space
(For details on the Modified N64 Console used with this system – CLICK HERE)
Below is an in-depth hardware demo of the IS-VIEWER64 running the ZELDA OOT & MM debug builds. Here you can watch the original developers debug messages which were left embedded within the compiled debug ROMs.
Enjoy!
-Gerry
In the video below, I briefly demo a version of the command line NLOAD program that was specifically used with the 64DD development drives and SGI workstations running the IRIX OS.