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10 years later - Resident Evil Outbreak 1 & 2 are back online!

YES IT IS TRUE, THESE GAMES ARE PLAYABLE ONLINE.

So this has been in BETA for a while, but a tech-savy fan managed to reverse engineer custom made servers for BOTH Resident Evil Outbreak 1 and File 2 on Playstation 2. Most of the features are in place and everything is working a-ok. One of the same guys responsible for helping get MGO back online had a hand in this. A pure genius.

I did not want to say anything months ago because the server wasn't working and there was some concern about Capcom shutting it down. BUT, it is not messing with any assets and this project has nothing related to piracy involved. File 2 came back a few months ago, and File 1 server opened not even a month ago, on the game's TENTH anniversary in early December :)

I did mention this a couple times on GAF, but I still see people saying they wish for these servers were back... and to play again. So time to make an official thread and hope more people see it.

One catch is that it is for the Japanese versions only. American/European versions do not work. This is because there were no known packet captures of these version's servers in the wild in order to reverse engineer... so this is all we got.

You can play using an emulator playing the game disc iso (your own copy) or using an actual japanese ps2 and disc, or using a modded ps2 with hdd with homebrew (to play your own disc iso).

More information located in the forums of the man who made this responsible:

http://www.obsrv.org/index.php

Any questions and I shall try my best to answer them.
 

DedValve

Banned
WHAT. WHAT. WHAT. WHAT. WHAT. WHAT. AHW ATWEASDFASDFASF.

MY LIFE IS COMPLETE.

This is the greatest new years present ever.
 
Yes I was an original USA server player, and it was a great treat to help beta test and get these servers working. Dream come true to play these again, ONLINE!
 

DedValve

Banned
So many posters here are going to be so happy. I am now DAMNED to find a way to get PCSX2 working on my mac (I really, really hope this is mac compatible).
 
This is some amazing news. I really hope the us version gets supports soon too. I wish they re-released Outbreak file 2, as now everybody has a decent internet connection.
 
These games were total blasts back then.

Sadly, I don't have a PS2 or either of the games anymore.

I hope everybody else has a lot of fun with it, though.
 

entremet

Member
PS2 online feels so ancient now.

No unified friends list is so weird after living with it for years now.
 

DedValve

Banned
So do you have to be playing when these servers are up at specific times or can I just get online with a buddy of mine (how would that even work? Lobby system I'm assuming) whenever I want?
 

Daigoro

Member
well thats damn cool.

id be 100x more excited if it was an HD port, but its really awesome that someone was able to get this working.

unfortunately it sounds like entirely too much work for me and my PC is shitty. like entrement said, no friends list or party setup. doubt ill put in the effort to get it working.

Outbreak was a great time online and they were great RE games. dont know if i can go back though. if i had a decent PC and setup was easy, maybe...

this is a cool thing though. nice work whoever got this figure out!
 

KDC720

Member
This is pretty cool.

Capcom should really re-release 1 and 2, or even make a 3. I think they would go over a lot better in this day and age.
 
Skype or steamchat or anything is viable to use while playing.... though with emulator not advisable (skype calls can harm connectivity)

I would not expect an HD port, or online from capcom. EVER. They simply don't care enough.

It sure can be a hassle to get online again with PS2 HDD... but once get it all running it is fantastic. Well worth it to play an amazing game and experience it online again!

File 2 there is even Nightmare mode, rankings, friendly fire mode, all working!
 

kunonabi

Member
time to import. only problem is I don't have a wired connection in my room anymore. might have to drag my ps2 with me to dallas.
 
A modded fat PS2 with homebrew (freemcboot and Open PS2 loader) is a great way to play Outbreaks, you can have even faster load times with HDD and still play in DVD rom rooms :)

I own one and use it to play my JPN disc isos (that have translation patchs on them)
 

DedValve

Banned
wait so I still have my old outbreak ISO chugging about in one of my harddrives but it has to be a japanese one right?

Lets say I get a JP one how would you apply the patch? Or do you need an iso with a patch already installed?
 

Daigoro

Member
Impossible to find a Japanese Copy :(...

edit nvm found on but I would need a JPN ps2 hmmm

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002MNXDM/?tag=neogaf0e-20

just get one of those magic disc things and do the disc swap. whatever the fuck they are called. someone help this guy out. its been a while since i played an import on my ps2.

The game was designed one way but very fun "cheating" as well. I used to call my buddy with a landline for "voicechat" when I played online during this era.

I'm pretty vehement about Dark Souls being designed a certain way as well, but I am not above dropping a few dozen hours into cheesing areas and bosses using DSCfix.

looks like we are on the same page then. enjoy!

post if you get stuff up and running so i can live vicariously through you. reading through the Outbreak Server forums is getting me all worked up just thinking about playing Outbreak again...
 

alf717

Member
Got a little excited until finding this only work with the Japanese version. Anyway to convert the US copy to a Japanese copy? Instead of hunting down overseas copies of the game?
 
Holy shit, I was JUST thinking about these games two days ago and hoping that one day I could play them online. I may look into this.
 
wait so I still have my old outbreak ISO chugging about in one of my harddrives but it has to be a japanese one right?

Lets say I get a JP one how would you apply the patch? Or do you need an iso with a patch already installed?

Need JPN iso, yes. USA one would not work. Applying patch, there are instructions on the website.

http://resouttrans.blogspot.ca/p/how-to-patch-game.html

Must patch with fresh iso... file 1 patch is kinda buggy I think.

just get one of those magic disc things and do the disc swap. whatever the fuck they are called. someone help this guy out. its been a while since i played an import on my ps2.

yes swap magic works fine. though i do not use it :(
 
That's...amazing.

The man responsible is a technical wizard. It is indeed amazing :) Replaying these games online is a blast!

I suggest to all to register to the forums and research and read some forum topics ... http://www.obsrv.org/index.php

heres some videos showcasing the servers functioning...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNMxoYvCMqM

And a Flashback scenario 4 player game example :) ...

Guess now is a good time to order the outbreak games

Make sure they are Japanese versions and can play them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScbYJAnLFNg
 

TyrantII

Member
This wouldn't be an issue if devs would release source code or allow for direct connections.


How would they shut down a game and force you to buy something else then? Self destructing games are good for business!


This is awesome news! Capcom should have made a HD collection and reworked them to be P2P for last/this gen; but Capcom is doing everything wrong lately.

Hopefully they don't try to nuke this project. If I was the team, as soon as everything is stable I'd document everything and disseminate the knowledge so it can never die or be taken down again.
 

Deprive

Member
People doing what Capcom just will not :\

For any other game, I would not go through the trouble. But... this is Outbreak
Will sub this thread and come back to it when I get a new gfxcard
 

vazel

Banned
This is a miracle. Not playing these games online is one of my biggest gaming regrets; my other biggest gaming regret is missing out on Shadowbane.
 

border

Member
What is great about these games? I never played them, but I don't remember them making much of a splash at the time of their release.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
It's really too bad it's the Japanese versions, means no English voice-over/subtitles and the like. :(

Plus YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO (YES?) YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO (NO!) YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO doesn't have the same ring in Japanese, probably. :(
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Thinking on it, I wonder how possible it would be to rip the translated files off the US/EU copies and patch them into the Japanese game while keeping the network code in.

If an English translation for stuff happens, I'd be all over this to replay them but online. Never did get around to playing them online before the shutdown. :(
 

Arsenic13

Member
It's baffling that Capcom hasn't just repackaged both games together as an HD re-release for a quick buck. People want to play these.
 
It's really too bad it's the Japanese versions, means no English voice-over/subtitles and the like. :(

Plus YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO (YES?) YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO (NO!) YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO doesn't have the same ring in Japanese, probably. :(

All voices are english. Ad libs are translated entirely in File 1. File 2 are not.

All other commands and items are translated.


Read entire thread... there is translation patches. Patch translates all text into English. Voices are already english.
 

BakedYams

Slayer of Combofiends
Can someone explain the hype behind this? I wanna join in but have no clue what I'm getting myself into.
 

Jawmuncher

Member
Thinking on it, I wonder how possible it would be to rip the translated files off the US/EU copies and patch them into the Japanese game while keeping the network code in.

If an English translation for stuff happens, I'd be all over this to replay them but online. Never did get around to playing them online before the shutdown. :(

The japanese versions can be patched to english.
Last I recall Outreak 2 was basically done. Unsure if they started on 1.

________________________________________________________________

Glad that the servers are finally a thing everyone can know about.
I'm going to be all over them when I can in 2014
 
Wouldn't it be so simple to put these up on Steam so we wouldn't need to mess with these kind of things? :(

In any case, it's very good news that another classic is saved. I never got to play these when I was 13.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
All voices are english. Ad libs are translated entirely in File 1. File 2 are not.

All other commands and items are translated.

Read entire thread... there is translation patches. Patch translates all text into English. Voices are already english.


Oh, nice. Guess it's just a matter of time before it's a bug-free Japanese full-English then?

Wouldn't it be so simple to put these up on Steam so we wouldn't need to mess with these kind of things? :(

Capcom, no PC version ever released. Outlook doubtful.
 
The japanese versions can be patched to english.
Last I recall Outreak 2 was basically done. Unsure if they started on 1.

________________________________________________________________

Glad that the servers are finally a thing everyone can know about.
I'm going to be all over them when I can in 2014

Yep it is now safe to let word out :) And File 1 is fully functional now as well.
 

Kyouji

Haman Discharged... she smells nice
It's really too bad it's the Japanese versions, means no English voice-over/subtitles and the like. :(

Plus YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO (YES?) YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO (NO!) YOKO YOKO YOKO YOKO doesn't have the same ring in Japanese, probably. :(

Resident Evil/Biohazard games have always had English voice acting (until Revelations and that recent BH6 re-release) in the Japanese releases.
 
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