The emulation crew running the GlideN64 plugin for N64 emulators have released version 2.0 of the open-source graphics solution. You can download the latest version right now and plug it into your favorite N64 emulator.

Russian programmer Sergey Lipskiy teamed up with a few others to code, optimize and sanitize the glide plugin for a new generation of graphics hardware and OpenGL support. As mentioned on the IndieGoGo page where Lipskiy managed to accrue $8,000 USD to work on the plugin full time, he explained…

“The goal of that experimental project is to convert Glide64 features using the power of modern OpenGL and to support features which were impossible to emulate before.”

Over on the official GlideN64 website Lipskiy explains that it took eight months to finish 1.0 and get the plugin up and out to the public. For version 2.0, it’s explained on the page that in his spare time he spent 20 months working on the plugin, and squashed more than 450 issues, as well as implemented plenty of other features thanks to receiving help from more than 28 different contributors.

The plugin has addressed buffer emulation, GLES fixes, improved support for the Rapberry Pi, improved graphics user interface design, as well as cleaner initialization files.

Back during the early days of N64 emulation a glide wrapper was essential for those who didn’t have a 3DFX card, but eventually as Voodoo lost market share and ATI and Radeon took over, support for N64 emulators veered away from the previous 3DFX reliance and eventually more options opened up in the emulation space.

With GlideN64 still providing users with OpenGL support, it allows gamers to continue to experiment and test out different kinds of options that best suit their gaming rig and its setup.

You can currently download various versions of the GlideN64 plugin for the emulators of your choice by grabbing the Windows version from over on GitHub, or the Android version from the Google Play Store.