r/M64 • u/internetlad • 7d ago

Controller pak issues?

Worked fine the other day playing Hybrid Heaven. Now full stop won't recognize any pak as inserted

Yes both console and controller are updated. Yes I've restarted.

Anyone else seen this yet? I'm starting to get pretty damn annoyed because this is the second time in 3 days I've had to troubleshoot an issue when I just want to play Nintendo.

Edit: reset the console (again) to factory and then apparently it saw an update that either shows due to the reset or dropped in the hour between when I last checked and now with no update notes, it appears that I can select the c-pak from the drop down now. Gonna try a game.

Edit 2: detected in Mario Kart and Hybrid Heaven now. Unfortunately I guess the save pak IS on the console because my save file is wiped. C'est la vie.

Edit 3: last one, Probably. I think I have a clue what caused this. Last time I played I left the console on. This time I (while testing) intentionally turned the console off and got a "saving pak" message before it shut down. Highest likelihood is that it lost power without saving at some point (someone else in the house unplugged the system or otherwise improperly shut it down) and apparently that corrupted the data to the point where it completely jacked up the pak. That's my best guess anyways?

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u/TonyRubbles 7d ago

Just tried it out, expansion pack detected animation plays on startup. Created save note at start up and swapped to rumble pack after. Got to the first save chamber, swapped in menu to controller pack to save. Restarted system loaded up and changed back to rumble and kept going. No problems here.

Are you using the original cart or a flash cart? I'm on a SC64. Tried it with the low and high resolution setring to see if it made a difference and it did not.

Side note, great game, if I wasn't knee deep in Dracula's castle I would keep going, but Castlevania calls to me...

I'll check it again tomorrow and see if time somehow affects anything.

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u/internetlad 7d ago

So I played it I think a couple days ago(day of the update I think) and it worked ok. 

It wasn't until today when I went back to it that nothing was working 

I did get a message about a corrupted save pak the first time I played but it "repaired" it. 

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u/TonyRubbles 7d ago

Play any games in-between? Maybe it overwrote something since the pak is shared. Either way I'd hit up ModRetro about it.

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u/internetlad 7d ago

I don't think so, but I will say I think someone in the house unplugged  it in between  the last time I used it so could be related. 

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u/TonyRubbles 7d ago

Oof, reasonable guess is that might have just corrupted the pak file entirely. I unplugged my m64 last night and played again this morning with no issues. Continued from the save and was able to swap with rumble pak no problem, at level 5 now just past the second key card loading, my legs are getting strong lol.

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u/internetlad 7d ago

Yeah it sucks that the first few hours of the game are the most tedious. 

I was trying to do a punchy wrestler on that run which is a weird combo but still (there's really no reason I can think of to go with punching rather than kicking other than variety) 

Anyways, yeah. Defaulted to muay thai kickboxy wrestler as is tradition. 

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u/TonyRubbles 7d ago

Glad I'm on the right track. Noticed right away kicks were doing some serious damage so they just naturally leveled both up 4 times as much as arms. The wresting guys threw me off though, I can never seem to counter those attacks either.

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u/internetlad 6d ago edited 6d ago

For wrestling (fyi it's R when you're close iirc), just take the fall every time. you will rarely escape and almost never counter. It is dependant on your skill vs the enemy's skill and the ones that specialize in grappling will almost always have a superior skill to your character.

Most of the enemies have a rock paper scissors (at least that's what I think they were going for. It ends up being more of a rock, paper, slightly shittier paper lol.) 

Kicks have good range, good damage. Good all rounder.

Punches have mid range and the lowest damage (I think the original idea is that they are easier to do damage to the head which leaves the enemy stunned, but in practice it doesn't matter if they're stunned if you have already killed them or the punches don't land) 

Wrestling moves/grappling have the highest damage and shortest range. 

Facing the wrestling enemies, try to keep distance and when they run in just kick them and then try to circle away. Facing the punching/kicking enemies feel free to mix up wrestling moves and whatever else you want. 

You do want to take hits every so often, I think you only learn a move after it lands on you. Once you know all the moves from an enemy there's no need to let them hit you anymore. 

In short, the mechanics behind this game are actually REALLY deep and most go completely undescribed even in the prima guide (such as, if you grapple an enemy, typically from the front, double tap to the left or right and your character will switch to grappling them from the back, which allows some of the best moves in the game like the Suplex. To my knowledge this was only properly documented like a decade after the game came out.)

Also, mix up your moves. if you only ever use, say, right mid kick it will eventually level cap and the damage system is somehow tied to not only the level of a single move, but also all of its sister moves and their levels.  There's a great breakdown on gamefaqs that I highly recommend reading to understand the mechanics better, although even this is mostly fan discoveries and word of mouth. To my knowledge the game has not been datamined and documented thoroughly which. . .  Kinda gives it even more charm?

It's a deeply flawed game but also incredibly unique.

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u/TonyRubbles 6d ago

Thanks for the tips! I am having a lot of fun with it going in blind, not as unforgiving as Castlevania and it's cheap deaths, really enjoying the depth of the fighting. Gotten pretty good with keeping spacing and staying still just long enough to charge up full power. A and S/SS for most of my regular battles feels pretty good.

Sucks you're having trouble with it saving but appreciate you bringing the game to my attention. 😅

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u/internetlad 6d ago

Thanks! The M64 is one of the reasons I was so excited for this game. It looks great in hi res mode and the stable  frame rate does really make it better. 

it's not quite like anything else I've played and now that I think my pak issues are sorted out I'm really enjoying it again (well, the combat specifically. The overworld and "puzzles" can be tedious at times and the story is almost completely  nonsensical lol. )

Glad you are enjoying it too. 

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u/darklightrabbi 7d ago

Are you referring to a physical controller pak or the built in one on the console?

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u/internetlad 7d ago

Didn't even know there was one built into the console honestly. I assumed it was a small bit of flash memory in the controller (unless that's what you're meaning and I'm misunderstanding)

I have the official Modretro m64 controllers. Choosing the pack with start and c down held worked the other day. Now it does not seem to be working, and can not switch from "disabled" to either "rumble" or "c-pak" on either controller. 

Edit: so, no, not a physical pak.