So, I'm interested in dabbling in the Nintendo 64 SDK. Now I've been presented a couple of options (please correct me if I am wrong) (If I've missed anything or made any mistakes, please correct me) Basically what I'm looking for, is a way to develop games, and test them out on the official Nintendo 64 hardware (whether or not it's a KMC 64). However, I'm looking for the most "OFFICIAL" version of the SDK, preferably nothing really 3rd party (I.E no everdrive, if I can help it). In this case I assume that option A.) is the more accurate way. Thanks so much for anyone who can help! ... very much appreciated P.S, any further information you can pass my way would be very much appreciated.
Indy is - expensive - cumbersome - require extra boards to play (joyboard) - old as fuck (therefore very difficult to find components, for example HDD's etc) - VERY RARE (with all the minuses and plusses of the case) Option B has actually two sets (SN & Partner N). They are both probably more affordable than the rare (did I mention expensive?) U64 boards; and definitely easier to find. You might still have issues finding ISA PC's (but on eBay anything shows up), scsi might be easier but I never had one so I do not know.
The ED64 was primarily designed to be a flashcart/cartridge emulator for the N64, it was made for playing roms on the console.. Sure, you can boot homebrew on it that's been designed to run on actual N64 hardware, but that's about it. It's not cut out for development purposes, and no, I'm not hating on the ED64 atm, this is entirely fact. If you wanted a similar product that was designed with homebrew development in mind, look into the 64drive; also, it's advertised as a development tool. Anyways, with that said, nothing will beat actual first or third party dev setups that were actually used for legit game development. The 64drive would probably be the most accessible and cheapest option for N64 development, and it's designed with more modern components. Not to mention, it was created by one of the most active people in the N64 scene; while KRIKzz designed the ED64, he doesn't seem to be interested in homebrew development for the N64. Put simply, he doesn't have the passion for the N64, the ED64 was just created as an addition to his long line of Everdrive products for money. You can develop games and test them out on official N64 hardware via the 64drive, the ED64 could do this as well, but you'd be presented with issues when it comes to debugging. Like I said above, the ED64 was designed for gaming, not development. While it'd be nice to get some hardware used by development studios back in the day, it would be extremely expensive and a pain in the ass to find everything you needed. Not to mention replacement parts are a bitch to come by, and the price to purchase, maintain, repair, doesn't come close to justifying the emptying of your wallet. Yeah, the 64drive is more expensive than the ED64, but in my honest opinion, it's worth every penny if you're really interested in N64 development. If you just want to play games and don't want to pay 200 USD, go for the ED64 I suppose. I own a 64drive, and I might pick up an ED64 some day if I should ever require one, but the 64drive does everything the ED64 can do and more, so I'm content with it.
Keep in mind what was labeled the 'official route' in your first post wasn't taken at the time by all official developers. You can't look up a history of the Bung devices without hitting that little, embarrassing story about how some developers were using them because they were faster and more reliable.
Yeah, N64 is development is notorious for a lot of third party dev setups. I see no reason to go the official route.
None of the Routes will never come true. I mean, hobbyists usually lack a License or two for a certain device/Application, and we official Developers have our hands full with the current and next Generations already.