PaperBoat reaches its first release
PaperBoat v.1.0 is the first release of Harbour Masters’ port of Paper Mario 64. The project provides versions for Windows, Linux and macOS, with the release assets including PaperBoat.vpk and paperboat.zip.
The release notes contain no feature list beyond identifying this as the first release. The project is led by Caladius, with development contributions from Bass3l, JeodC, Caladius and KiritoDv.
First encounters with effects may stutter
PaperBoat can briefly stutter the first time it encounters certain visual effects. The release notes attribute this behavior to missing shader variants in the shader cache.
The project says this should happen only once, including across later launches. A brief hitch when a new effect appears therefore reflects shader-cache preparation rather than a documented recurring issue.
Documented desktop support
The README documents Windows, Linux and macOS support. On Windows, the ZIP package launches through paperboat.exe. Linux users are directed to run the AppImage, while macOS users launch paperboat.app and select their game copy when prompted.
PaperBoat does not include copyrighted game assets. Users must provide a supported copy of Paper Mario 64. The README lists the required US ROM SHA-1 value as 3837f44cda784b466c9a2d99df70d77c322b97a0 for checking whether a dump matches the supported version.
Choose a graphics backend
The port supports DirectX 11 on Windows, OpenGL on all platforms and Metal on macOS. The active rendering API can be changed in the menubar’s Settings menu, and changing it requires a restart.
DirectX 11 is the default on Windows, while Metal is the default on macOS. OpenGL is the cross-platform option. For crash troubleshooting, the README also documents changing the backend manually in paperboat.cfg.json through its Backend section, using one of the supported backend identifiers.
Keyboard controls and shortcuts
The default keyboard layout maps the Nintendo 64 A button to X, B to C, Z to Z and Start to Space. W, A, S and D control the analog stick, the arrow keys handle the C buttons, and T, F, G and H handle the D-pad.
Esc toggles the menubar, F11 toggles fullscreen mode, Tab toggles alternate assets and Ctrl+R resets the game.
Custom assets load from the mods folder
PaperBoat supports custom assets packed in .o2r or .otr files. Placing those files in the project’s mods folder makes them available separately from the main application.
The README directs asset creators to the retro OTR and O2R generator and the fast64 Blender plugin. It also notes that fast64 does not fully support Paper Mario 64 at this time.
What is included in v.1.0
The release is tagged v.1.0 and includes PaperBoat.vpk and paperboat.zip. Its notes do not list later patches, compatibility additions or performance fixes, so the shader-cache behavior is the main usage detail highlighted for this initial build.
The project acknowledges the Paper Mario decompilation team and the Paper Mario DX team, and identifies libultraship as the technology powering PaperBoat.
