Microcode

Introduction

The N64's Reality Co-Processor (specifically, the RSP component) is reprogrammable, allowing developers to add extra/custom functionality to the Co-processor. Microcode (sometimes appearing as "ucode", standing for μcode) is thus the set of instructions that can be loaded/executed on the RSP.

Microcode Libraries

OoT 1.0 (U):

RSP Gfx ucode F3DZEX.NoN  fifo 2.06H Yoshitaka Yasumoto 1998 Nintendo
RSP Gfx[Safe] S2DEX       fifo 2.05  Yoshitaka Yasumoto 1998 Nintendo

Debug Rom:

RSP Gfx ucode F3DZEX.NoN  fifo 2.08J Yoshitaka Yasumoto/Kawasedo 1999
RSP Gfx[Safe] S2DEX       fifo 2.05  Yoshitaka Yasumoto 1998 Nintendo

The above are microcode programs, each with a set of opcodes (operation codes) which instruct the RCP to do certain things, such as enable/disable texturing, draw polygons, and everything from there.

F3DZEX

Main article: F3DZEX

F3DZEX is a 3D based graphics microcode, and the primary graphics microcode used by the Zelda 64 engine. F3DZEX is based off of the F3DEX2 microcode, sharing the same graphics binary interface (GBI). GBI is a display list interface, used for rendering graphics. Each command is 64 bits long, and is used to instruct both the RSP and the RDP units on the RCP.

There are no major differences between 2.06H and 2.08J of the F3DZEX microcode.

S2DEX

S2DEX is a 2D based graphics microcode. It is rarely used by the Z64 engine. The only known instance in which is used is to draw rooms with pre-rendered backgrounds from a top-down perspective.

/* 0x0A */ gsSPBgRectCopy(mptr); //mptr points to uObjBg type

Argument Mapping

Microcode	Reference Function
0A000000 aaaaaaaaa	gsSPBgRectCopy(mptr)

Description

Quickly draws a background image. a is a pointer to a 0x28 byte data structure

Audio

NTSC 1.0 Notes

800E2FC0, size 0x1000

Display List Dump Feature

In the event of a fatal error, the Debug Rom is capable of generating a dump of the entire display list pipeline for the current frame, sending it to the IS64. This dump can be triggered with the following cheat code: 80166D28 0000. Once the dump begins, it's recommended that you set the value back to 0001, since otherwise the game will constantly generate a dump.

Unsorted NTSC 1.0 Microcode Notes

800060B0, size 0x3E8. Sometime cases it seems only 0x160 is transferred
800E2FC0, size 0x1000 //audio
800E3F70, size 0x1000 //F3DZEX possibly?

0x40 bytes at address 8012BAC0 is transferred to 04000FC0 //DMEM

This seems to be used to store task data. For example Graphics Context+0x88 stores the data that is later copied to 8012BAC0, which contains the relevant task info

0x3E8 bytes at address 800060B0 is transferred to 04001000 //IMEM

Legacy Credits

cooliscool
ZethAlkar64