Guide

Installing N64 Texture Packs

Add a texture pack to an N64 emulator in three steps

  • 3 StepsTo Install
  • GLideN64Emulator
  • 3 Nov 2026Page Updated

N64 texture packs are loaded by the emulator’s video plugin, not by the emulator itself. Most packs on this site are in the Rice format, which GLideN64 loads. GLideN64 comes with Rosalie’s Mupen GUI (RMG) and Mupen64Plus, and works as a plugin in Project64. The game’s ROM is never changed, so a pack can be removed at any time.

Note

A pack page says when a pack needs something else. A few packs are for Rice Video 6.1.1 or Jabo’s plugin, which use their own settings, and a few are for the Wii Virtual Console releases and load in Dolphin instead. For those, see Installing GameCube and Wii Texture Packs.

Step 1 Use GLideN64 as the video plugin

In RMG and Mupen64Plus, GLideN64 is already the video plugin. In Project64, download GLideN64, extract it into Project64’s Plugin folder, and pick it as the video (graphics) plugin under Options > Settings > Plugins.

Step 2 Put the pack in the texture pack folder

Open GLideN64’s settings and go to the Texture enhancement tab. The Texture pack path box shows the folder GLideN64 loads packs from. In Project64 it is Plugin/hires_texture by default. Other emulators set their own folder, so check this box rather than guessing.

Inside that folder, each pack needs a folder named after the game’s internal name. This is the name stored in the ROM’s header, in capitals, such as THE LEGEND OF ZELDA for Ocarina of Time or SUPER MARIO 64. Most packs already come in a folder with that name, so extract the download into the texture pack folder as it is.

  • Project64’s game list can show an Internal Name column (choose the columns under Options > Settings).
  • Releases from different regions can have different internal names. A pack made for one release may need its folder renamed for another.

Watch out

Check that extracting doesn’t create an extra folder level, such as hires_texture/SUPER MARIO 64/SUPER MARIO 64/. The textures, or the pack’s own subfolders, should sit directly inside the game’s folder.

Step 3 Turn on the texture pack

On the same Texture enhancement tab, tick Use texture pack. GLideN64 loads the pack the next time the game starts. A big pack can take up to a minute the first time.

Tip

Save enhanced texture cache to hard disk keeps the loaded pack in a cache file, so later starts take a few seconds instead. If you change or update the pack, delete the old cache file from the texture cache folder (the Texture cache path box), or the old textures stay.

When a pack doesn’t load

  • Check that the folder name matches the game’s internal name exactly, and that Use texture pack is ticked. Then restart the game.
  • Older Rice packs may need Alternative CRC calculation (for old Rice Video packs) ticked. If a pack loads only partly, try switching this option.
  • If transparent parts of a texture look wrong, try switching Use full transparencies. Newer packs want it on, older packs off.
  • Very large packs need a lot of memory. Use a 64-bit emulator. If the game stutters or crashes while loading, tick Use file storage instead of memory cache.